Harry Potter and the Seven Sirens
by Laid Bare
Summary: Seven friends believe that they were normal, until a mysterious man in a flowing black cape comes to turn their life around.   Now, they are plunged into a world like no other, with only each other and their firy attatuides to keep them safe
1. Chapter 1

To: My Crystal and Yuki, for making sure I wrote this and gave me good ideas.  
Alyssa and Kailah, for always having something to say, maybe you might finish this chapter, eh?  
Davina: For being my fellow slythie, and putting up with my endless questions.  
Finally, to our dearest Alice, for putting up with our terrible bullying and just being a good laugh.  
Well guys, this is for you,  
Love, your one and only, Dawn

Harry Potter and the Seven Sirens

Five years earlier…

"Hello" I smiled down at the small tabby cat, which padded over to where I sat. She meowed and I petted her, feeling the vibrations of the purr. "What's your name?" I asked, continuing to pat the stray, wondering if daddy would let me keep her.  
The cat cried and a small voice floated towards me. "Hungry," it said. I looked around, surprised, trying to see who had spoken. My garden was empty save from the cat and me. She cried again, and the voice said again, "Hungry," I got an image of small while mice running away and the smell of some really bad smelling chicken. I looked down at the small cat in my arms in awe; she stared back with rich green eyes. "Did you just talk?" I asked the cat, my voice barely above a whisper. The small voice sounded again, only this time, stronger. "Hungry, please…" I stared silently at the small ball of fur for a moment before yelling, "Daddy!" I rushed into the kitchen, holding the tabby. "Daddy!" I called again and there was the sound of rushing footsteps coming down the stairs. My daddy looked at me with worry. "What is it?" he asked, voice slightly frantic and breathless. His eyes fell on the cat in my arms. "What's that?" he asked, his voice losing the worry.  
"A cat," I said happily, petting her head. "Can I give her some food daddy? She said she was hungry." Daddy nodded, before freezing and looking at me with the worry once more. I went to the fridge to get the sliced ham cuts that we normally make for sandwiches. "What did you say?" he asked, watching me with careful eyes as I offered the ham to the starving cat, who bit into it happily. "She said she was hungry," I replied, frowning. I giggled as her rough tongue move across my palm, daddy breathed out slowly and said in a calm voice. "She talked to you, like I'm talking to you now?" I nodded, frowning once again. "Daddy, what's wrong?"  
After a long moment, he said in a quite voice. "Don't ever tell anyone that you can speak to animals. Don't talk back to them – ignore them." I looked down at the small cat in my arms. "So, I can't keep her?"  
"No." Daddy yelled, making me jump and my grip on the small kitty tighten. "No, Dawn," he said in a more softer tone "You can't."  
Tears filled up in my eyes. "Please daddy…"  
"No," he repeated. "Don't ask me again. Give it some food and then let it out." With that, he stormed up the stairs, muttering something about sending a letter. I hugged the still eating cat and slipped out of the kitchen to the back garden. Putting the cat down, I wiped at my damp cheeks "Go," I pointed in the direction in front of me. When the cat made no movement to go, I yelled, "Go," watching as she stared up at me with knowing eyes. Then, she scampered off, but a small voice carried back to me.  
"Thank you."

Five years on…

"Daddy," I called, storming down the stairs, school shoes in hand to the kitchen. "What?" he had his back to me, arm moving in a gesture that showed he was frying something.  
"I need new shoes," I held up the ones in my hand to prove my point. Turning, my dad grinned shaking his head, "Those ones are fine, Dawn." I looked at the near-falling apart shoes, frowning. "No," I replied. "They're not." Ok, they were fine, but I wanted new ones. I heard his sigh and looked up to see his shaking head. "You've only got one more week till your holidays, they'll last until then." He dumped some bacon onto a plate with bread. "Here,"  
I sulkily walked towards the food, reaching into the cupboard for some brown sauce. Turning off the stove, daddy began to prepare his own bacon sandwich, after a moment, I said. "Can I have some of my friends round on Friday?" biting into my breakfast. Chewing, daddy nodded, fixing his dark brown eyes – my eyes – on me. "Don't you dare trash the house." I grinned and nodded, kissing his cheek. "Promise." I grabbed my school bag by the side of the stairs, slipping on my "fine" shoes and stuffed the last of the sandwich into my mouth. "Bye daddy, love you."  
"Bye," he called behind me, "Be careful." I began to jogging lightly down the road to the bus stop, a gaggle of year sevens and eight already there. The noise coming from them was too loud for this time in the morning, so I fished out my ipod from the never-ending pockets of my compulsory school blazer. After the fist two verses of P!nk's "I'm not dead." Did the 266 bus slowly crawl its way to our stop. Going up to the top of the double Decker, I sat at the back, as far away from the bunch of loud year eight girls as I could get, trying not to tutt on how short they're skirts were.  
I turned up the volume as loud as it could go, gazing out the window, only half-seeing.  
People go on and off the bus, most avoiding seats that had someone sitting next to, no one daring to come close to the Covent girl at the back. Thanks to London's sun, I could see my reflection clearly from the streaming rays that hit its surface. As always, my dark brown hair fell in messy curls around my pale face, framing my dark brown – almost black – eyes. My lips were a little too big and I had a button nose with what I suspected to be the beginning of a spot. Garr. Like I needed this. I sighed, stretching my legs out, noticing how short they were, yes, I'm short, 5 ft 2 to be precise. Oddly enough though, my figure was curved and my chest a little too big, making my mortal enemy gravity. I watched through the window as a familier landscape rolled by and stopped. Reluctantly, I rose, hitching up the strap of my bag and followed the rest of the Convent girls off the bus.  
I hurried my pace along the road, trying to ignore the putrid smell of fish that's seemed to always linger.  
"Dawn," I saw a small Asian girl with streaked brow/ black hair smile at me from across the road. I waited, smiling back so that Crystal could catch up. "Hey," I grinned, matching my pace with hers. (Can I say that thankfully Crystal is my height, do you know how rare that is?) "Did you revise for the test?" she asked as we made out way through the schools front gate. I tuned to her sharply. "What test?"  
Laughing, Crystal shook her head, clear with obvious answer. "There's some time in form, you could do it there," she suggested helpfully, only to groan at the dreaded stairs that lead to our form room. "Can't the school get a lift?" she wondered out loud.  
"Yeah," I agreed, half dragging myself up with the hand railing. A few year nines ran down the stairs, my gaze travelling with them. "Where do they get the energy from?" I asked, already feeling the slight burn in my thighs. Crystal shrugged. "Drugs?" I nodded, watching them with narrowed eyes. "Must be."  
When we reached our form, Crystal pushed on the handle and growled. "Locked," she proclaimed, eyes narrowed dangerously. I shook my head, moving towards her to give it a try, when the door wouldn't give, I nodded. "Locked." I confirmed.  
We sat on the stairs and waited. "Aren't you going to revise?" she asked, getting out her physics book. I shook my head. "Nope. That woman needs to make a circuit and get electrocuted." Crystal laughed, her petite frame shaking, and brown/black hair spilling in front of her face. Just then, an all too familier voice called. "What's so funny?" Alyssa's face peered around the corner of the stairs her dark face frames by her braids and red glasses. "The Ant needs to get electrocuted," I explained. Alyssa grinned and sat down beside me. "You didn't revise?" she guessed, I nodded, resting my head on her shoulder. "I am so tired," I let out a yawn to back me up.  
"Go to bed earlier," Alyssa muttered, shifting so that she too, could get her physics book out of her bag.  
A few more people arrived, we all said hello and chatted for a while, but they drifted off to their own groups. "Hey," I looked up from Alyssa's book to see two girls clearing the last few steps. Alice and Davina grinned down at the three of us. "Hey," I grinned back, scooting closer to Alyssa to make room. When they sat, I looked over at the pair. Alice, a small girl with a rich brown eyes that matched her skin tone, was complaining to Crystal about some year nines that left a rude comment on her facebook. Davina, another small petite girl with a golden tan and freckles, was rushing to get her book out, her dark hair falling around her face. I began to focus again of the science book, half listening to my friends' gossip while revising when another voice called.  
"Is that physics?" we all looked up to see Yuki, another small girl with pretty Asian-like eyes and dark skin tone looking down at us, her straight black hair tied up to show off the perfect cheekbones. "Yeah," Called Crystal, making room for her "twin".  
Although the two of them were defiantly not twins, if you spent some time with the pair, you would think that in another life, they were. We all spent the next ten minutes revising when the bell ran, causing most to jump.  
"Sorry girls," our form tutor, Miss Taylor pulled out her keys from her skull key chain around her neck. We all pooled into our room and sat down, chatting noisily to each other. Alyssa and I sat at the front, Yuki and Crystal behind, Davina and Alice to their right. I looked past Alyssa to my right, noticing the empty chair next to Hannah, a tall blonde haired girl. "Where's Kailah?" I asked, looking back at the rest. Davina shrugged, "She wasn't on my bus,"  
Alice rolled her eyes, "She's probably at home eating chicken, before coming in late, again." I laughed, shaking my head. That sounded like our Kailah.  
"How can you have chicken for breakfast?" Crystal asked, smiling slightly. Yuki shook her head. "Shun the none-believer." She cried and shook her finger at Crystal.  
"Oh, my, God." Crystal sighed, rolling her eyes.  
I grinned, "You don't believe in God." Crystal opened her mouth to retort when the door closed, we all turned to see Kailah walk in. "Late," Miss Taylor sighed, as she took her seat. I leaned over to Kailah and asked. "Why were you late this time, hun?"  
Kailah looked down at her bag moodily and then back up. "Kiss my teeth, I woke up late, right? And when I was cooking my chicken, I saw the time on the oven and was like, shet. So yeah." We all erupted into fits of laughed, while Kailah looked puzzled. "What you guys laughing at?" she demanded.  
"Girls," Miss Taylor called. Trying to calm down the high level of noise. "Girls, seriously, shut up." The noise decreased, but some still chatted quietly. "Sshh," came a loud voice from the back, and the last lingering bits of noise died.  
"I've got a few noticed to tell you, so if you can keep quiet for five minutes," she paused, looking seriously pissed at two girls in the corner, their almost silent conversation died. "As I was saying…" there was a knock on the door and our head of year walked in, looking slightly nervous, a tall man followed behind, his black oily hair framed his pale face and hooked nose in greasy strands. All he wore was black, that stood out against his pale complexion. Behind me, I could hear Yuki's voice call softly, "Emo,"  
I had to discreetly change my laugh into a cough, but could do nothing to hide my grin. "Girls, stand." Our Head of year reminded us, obediently, we stood, trying not to squirm under the man's black-eyed gaze. Our head of year whispered quietly to Miss Taylor, who nodded. In a normal tone, Miss Taylor said, "Dawn, Yuki, Alice," She paused, "Alyssa, Kailah, Crystal and Davina, you have to go with Miss Deans," looking at one another, we all hesitantly stood, taking our bags and blazers. Together, we shuffled out of the classroom, I heard Yuki ask Crystal. "What did we do this time?" Once we were outside, Miss Deans closed the door behind us. "Girls," she began. "This is professor Snape, he's a teacher at a school called Hogwarts," we all looked at the "emo" guy with raised brows. "He would like to have a word with you all," she began to walk, Snape following behind. "This is it," I muttered, everyone looked at me. "We're off to the mad house, I knew this would happen ever since I became you lot's friend." We all laughed nervously and followed.  
The two stopped outside the conference room, which was used when visitors came, so the school looked posh and official. Snape opened the door and walked through, I looked over at Miss Deans, waiting for her to go in. "I'll come back," she promised and walked hurriedly off, wanting to get away from Snape and his unwashed hair. I pushed Kailah forward. "Go on," I whispered. "No, you," she whispered back. Taking a step backwards. After a moments paused, Yuki piped up. "Someone has to go in first." I bit my lip, looking around. "I'll go," Alyssa sighed, taking the first step. "He's not going to rape us, is he?" Davina asked, grinning slightly. "Oohh yeah," Nodded Alice. "I bet he never got laid." I giggled, but forced a straight face, as Alyssa pushed open the door and walked in, the rest following closely behind.  
Professor Snape stood straight at the corner of the room, his gothic attire looked out of place in the sunny yellow walls. We all pilled into the room, the feeling of nerves was strong. I began to wonder what this visit was about, I began to think back, and did we ever thrash a school call Hogwarts? Did we even thrash a school?  
"Sit," Snape nodded to the three-seater couch, Alyssa, Crystal and Kailah sat, while I perched on Alyssa's lap, Yuki did the same to Crystal, Alice and Davina sat on the two arm rests either side. Snape's dark eyes studied us and the over crowed couch, the intensity of the gaze med me squirm, Alyssa fidgeted.  
"I am a professor of a school called Hogwarts," Snape began. "We specialise in children from eleven to seventeen. We teach the art of witchcraft and wizardry."  
I frowned, looking back at Alyssa and the girls with raised brows., hoping I only heard wrong. "Witchcraft?" Yuki said in disbelief, she turned to Alice, "Take her, she does voodoo," I tried to hide my smile, we all said that Alice did voodoo, she didn't, but we teased her about it, because she bought a voodoo doll in Camden.  
Snape raised his dark brows at us, clearly not amused, I found myself sobering up, not wanting to be on the receiving end of his disapproval.  
"Yes," He clarified. "Witchcraft and wizardry." He paused, letting that sink in. "All of our students were born magic – some with magic families."  
I began to feel my heart race, a memory I tried to forget began to surface, I looked around guiltily at my friends, I've never told them about what I could do, I was always scared they wouldn't believe me or think I was a freak.  
I was about to open my mouth when Alice cut through. "What do you mean? Magic?"  
Snape's neutral voice replied. "I mean, this." Then he produced a long thin stick, and with a quick flick of his wrist, a beam of light shot out and became a snake.  
I heard the others scream and I felt Alyssa jump back, causing me to stand, but all I could see was the snake, long and patterned green and brown. It's reptile eyes met mine, and slowly, very deliberately, it slid over towards me. I bent down, hand stretched towards it, I've never touched a snake before, it's skin was cool and smooth.  
"Hey," I said in a low voice. "Try not to scare my friends." I grinned slightly at the creature, transfixed. It raised its head and nodded, then began to wind itself around my arm, until its forked tongue tickled my ear. "I will not," each word was slow, like someone trying to speak a different language. I nodded, petting its head gently. "Thanks," the room had gone silent, turned to look over my shoulder, to see all my friends stare back at me as if I was a stranger. "You can speak to snakes?" I looked back at Snape, who was looking at me as if I had finally did something interesting.  
I bit my lip, conscious of the heavy stares of my friends. "I can speak to all kinds of animals," I looked away, feeling heat rise in my cheeks. "Is that normal?" what I wouldn't give to be normal. "It's not unheard of," Snape replied carefully, pointing his stick at the snake on my arm. Muttering something, the snake disappeared, I could feel my eyes go wide but remained silent.  
"What about visions?" I turned to see Alice look like she was on the brink of tears, her whole body shook. I saw Crystal look uncomfortable, eyes avoiding ours. "What about moving things without touching them?" Yuki looked down at her feet and muttered so fast I could barely catch what she was saying. "Mind reading?"  
I stared opened mouthed at them. "You- you can do things too?"  
I saw Alyssa bite her lip, "I can hypnotise people," she looked like she wanted to run out of the room and never come back. I found my gaze travelling to Kailah, my voice wondrous. "What can you do?"  
Smiling slightly she shrugged. "I cure people, make them better." I was beginning to see strangers instead of my friends, Snape and Hogwarts forgotten, I turned to Davina. "And you?" She looked the scared out of most of us, tears already falling down her tanned cheeks. "When I was little… I-I I think I went back in time," her whole body trembled.  
I turned back to Snape, knowing my eyes were full of questions, "Take a seat, and I'll explain." He sighed. I shook my head. "I rather stand, thanks." I heard my friends mutter their agreements. Sighing, Snape nodded, muttering "Very well." He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Hogwarts is a school for those who can do magic, such as yourselves. A few of you have inherited your powers from your parents, or other family members, others, are born with magic." He turned his piercing gaze on each of us. "Five of you, have parents that are magic." I opened my mouth and then closed it, I was one of the two whose parents weren't magic. My dad wasn't, and my mum… well, she died, but he wouldn't keep something like this from me, I was sure of that. " Three years ago, all your parents refused for you to come to our school for different reasons, but the headmaster would like you know your opinion, taking into account how its is dangerous to have young witches that do not know how to control their magic."  
"Professor?" Crystal asked in a small voice, "Whose parents are magic?" I bite my lip, knowing that she meant her dad, who died when she was really young.  
"Alice's mother, your father, Kailah's father, Davina's mother and both of Dawn's parents." I looked up sharply. "No," I said firmly, shaking my head. "No, not my daddy," he would never had hide something like this from me, never. I felt Alyssa's arm go around me and I rested my head against her should feeling tears well up, it was nice to know I had been lied to all my life.  
Snape took a deep breath. "Go home and think about it, talk to your parents. We'll expect your response in a weeks time," he rose, looking at each one of us. "And don't tell anyone about Hogwarts." With that, he disappeared.  
"I don't know about you guys," I looked over at Crystal, to see her look like she wanted to hit something. "But I want a word with my mum." I nodded, feeling the anger take its toil, daddy and I need to do some talking too. I rose, looking down at Alyssa. "You can hypnotise?" she nodded slowly. I looked around at all my friends and smiled sadly. "I can't take six hours of school, how about we break out?" I look back at Alyssa, "Could you hypnotise the school to let us out?"  
Alyssa smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."  
I grinned, looking at the rest. "want to come to my place? My dads at work."

Ok this is first chapter, so don't worry, I am already writing the next. What do you think? You like? I swear, you'd better comment


	2. Chapter 2

To Kailah and Alyssa: wow, did you guys actually read the first chapter?

Yuki and Crystal: See? I am keeping my promise; just carry on bugging me to finish the next chapter, eh?

Alice and Davina: This chapter is for you two ;)

Love y'all always

Dawn

I walked out of school with my heart in my throat, making my mouth dry and hands shaking. Mrs. Cameron, our head, waved merrily at us as we left the school gates, I waited for her to shout for us to come back and give us a detention. Alyssa was the only one of the seven of us that looked at complete ease, as if she did this every day. Maybe she did.

Yuki and Crystal huddled close together, both Asian eyes darting back and forth between the redheaded headmistress and the path that led out of the Convent.

Alice, who seemed more like herself as every step she took further away from the old building, was already muttering to Davina whether Alyssa could hypnotise Tescos to give us some free alcohol. "No," I muttered over at them as we reached the heavenly gates. "I'm mad at my dad, but I'm not giving him an excuse to be mad at me." who ever said I wasn't responsible can shove it up their arse. Alice pouted, brushing passed a few pedestrians along the pavement. "I'm upset. I wanted to spike Alyssa's drink." Alyssa laughed, not looking back at us. "Trap," she muttered back at Alice.

I looked over my shoulder at Kailah, who was staring quietly at the cracked and gum-stained pavement, her long braided strands of hair fell around her face. "Hey," I smiled, stopping so I could walk alongside her. "What's up, hun?" I put my arm around the slim curve of her waist and pulled her closer, so I could rest my head on her should her. "Well?"

I heard Kailah sigh. "Nothing darlin'." She continued to look moodily down at the ground her long lashes brushing her cheeks. I pursed my lips, trying to hold back a smile, trust Kailah to go all moody on us, I swear sometimes she was like a middle-age pregnant woman. We continued to walk in silence along the main street, trying not to look guilty when people eyed our uniform.

"Hey," I called to the rest, stopping, and causing Kailah too as well. Six pairs of eyes turned to me in question, but waited until I said something. "Never mind Tescos," I grinned. "What do you all say to some free Nandos?" Everyone's face brightened at the prospect of chicken, I swear, Kailah looked like she won the lottery.

"Oh, My, Days." She grinned, transforming her face into something that looked quiet angelic. "Nandos and they're _bare_ sexy chicken." She looked around at everyone else with wide eyes. "All we need now is Lil Wayne."

I rolled my eyes along with everyone else; trying not to laugh at the look Alyssa was giving her friend. "That crusty old woman's toe?" She made a disbelieving sound, Alice nodding in agreement. "Just no, Kailah." She said in her high-pitched posh voice. Beside me, Kailah kissed her teeth and looked up to the heavens. "Lil Wayne is sexy. _Shett_."

"So, Nandos or what?" I demanded.

"Yeah," and "Nandos!" was my answer.

Fifteen minutes later, we were all crowded around a small table in a darkened corner of Nandos, all happily scooping our free frozen banana yogurt, while we waited for our chicken and rice – or in Crystal's case, chips – to arrive.

"So, you believe him then?" Davina asked, taking another scoop. "Snape, I mean." She looked around at us, each in turn, her dark eyes almost pleading with us to say this was a bad dream.

Alice shrugged, looking down at her half-eaten yogurt, uncharacteristically solemn. "How else do you explain it, what we can do?" her soft voice carried to every one of us, with slight foreboding.

Crystal bit her lip, looking nervous. "So we are going to Hog-thingy?"

There was a thick silence for a long moment, while we all mulled over the thought of Hogwarts. "They're uniform has to be better," Alyssa smiled lightly. "I mean, like, it can't get any worse than this." She looked down at the royal blue and yellow garments that we all wore with distaste.

Yuki laughed, nodding. "Yeah, straightjackets are better."

"Huh?" Kailah frowned at Yuki.

"She means, Hogwarts could be a mental hospital," Crystal supplied helpfully; her cheery voice did not match the horrible meaning to her words. I paused, thinking about what Yuki was getting at. Could our parents really send us to a mental hospital for what we could do? I didn't think my daddy could do that to me, but then again, I didn't think he could lie to me all my life.

While I was brooding silently over my personal troubles, the conversation had picked up again, only their voices had become just a white noise as I sulked in my own self pity, because, either way, my dad had betrayed me, I just didn't know which one would hurt less.

A small, warm hand rested on my shoulder, I looked up to see Yuki smile at me, her dark brown eyes seemed to be more eye-catching up close. Our table had gone silent, which made Yuki's soft voice stronger, full of powerful emotions. "Don't worry about it," She smiled, giving my shoulder a little squeeze. "Whatever happens, we're in this together." I heard mumbled agreements and Alyssa grinned at me. "You'll have to divorce me, to get rid of me."

I nodded and smiled, giving Yuki and everyone else grateful looks. "Think happy thoughts," she whispered in my ear, before leaning back in her seat. It took me a moment to understand what she meant. Yuki could read minds, I could talk to animals, Alyssa could hypnotize…

"Hey Crystal," I looked at the small Asian girl, who was carefully applying eyeliner. She looked up, revealing that she only finished one eye. I lowered my voice and leaned forward, so my voice wouldn't carry. "What did you say your…" I searched for a word that could describe it. "Power…was?"

Crystal turned back to her make-up, and replied in a non-chant voice. "I can move stuff with my mind. It's called Telekinesis."

I nodded and turned to Davina, who was fiddling with her half eaten yogurt. "What about you?"

Davina looked up, her dark brown eyes stood out against her golden skin and freckles. Davina was part Portuguese, so her looks were exotic and dark. She shrugged and tried to be as casual as Crystal, but the tenseness she held in her shoulders was there. "Time shifting." I had to raise my brows at that one, I mean, time shifting sounded cool, but the slight haunted look in the depths of her brown eyes. She looked at all of us, who looked back in turn and sighed, biting at her lower lip. "When I was six, I was playing hide and seek with my sister, Tara. I hid under my bed and waited for her to find me. When she didn't, I decided to go find her." Davina's eyes suddenly looked far away, seeing something we couldn't. "My room looked different, all grubby and there was no pictures or TV. All the furniture looked like in those museums that Mr. Knight drags us to. There was this lady in a rocking chair, knitting something, she had a plain blue dress and a while apron over it, her hair was tied into a long braid. She looked at me and screamed. I screamed too and started to cry for my mum. The next thing I knew, I was back in my room, my mum hugging me. When I told her what had happened, she said I must of fell asleep."

Alice, who was sitting beside Davina, hugged her close while Alyssa patted her back. With Davina still in her arms, Alice spoke in a hushed tone. "I was ten when I got my first vision." She shivered from the memory. I looked around, our food should be here soon, turning back to Alice, I leaned closer to hear her low voice. "I saw a man stab his wife to death, about a week later, it was on the news."

An uncomfortable silence settled over that, one that seemed to be screaming for noise to fill it with.

"And on a lighter note…" I smiled softly at Alice and Davina and tried for a more cheery voice. "So, are we or aren't we going to this Hogwarts?"

"I want to go," Alice replied, still holding on to Davina. "I mean, if they can help us. It's better than nothing." Davina nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm in."

I sighed, taking a deep breath to steady the sudden frantic beat of my heart. "Me too,"

"Me three," Alyssa nodded, grinning at me, her dark eyes suddenly seemed a lot brighter.

Yuki and Crystal turned to each other in union, their actions almost comical. "We're in." they both said.

All eyes turned to Kailah, who laughed at something that must have shown on our faces. "What?" she asked, grinning.

Alice sighed. "Are you going or not? What is this, can't you just follow one conversation?" Kailah gave Alice a murdering glare before rolling her eyes at us. "Like you guys could leave without _moi_." She batted her eyelashes and waited us all to agree.

Tumbleweed…

Kailah waved her hand, her warm brown eyes laughing. "I know you guys love me really."

"Good luck with your dad," Kailah squeezed me tight enough to leave a bruise on my abnormally large boobs. She broke away and eyed me worriedly, chewing at her lower lip. "You'll be on msn, right? 'Round seven?" I nodded and hoped I gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I will."

"Just no," Alice muttered loudly and we all turned to look at her. "What? It doesn't take a physic to work out that Dawn's gonna go mental and like, set some next rabid animals on her dad."

"Shut up, tramp." Alyssa warned, her eyes narrowing at the smaller girl.

"Or what?" Alice retorted, hands on hips. "You'll make me?"

There was a sudden glint to Alyssa's dark eyes as she stared at Alice, one I don't think I have ever seen before. "Maybe I will."

The rest of us exchanged worried glances between the two and hurried along with our goodbyes. I waved as they walked to their bus stop, before departing to mine, trying not to look too guilty when people eyed my uniform.

The phone was ringing when I got home, there was annoyed shrill of the phone that suggested that it was ringing for some time and wished to be answered around about now.

Dumping my bag, I hurried towards it and frowned at the unknown number. "Hello?" I asked hesitantly, wondering if I was going to be offered life insurance. "Dawn?" my

Father's voice contained so many emotions, stressed into that one word. Anger, worry, and fear.

"Daddy?" I bit my lip as my voice wobbled from the sob creeping up my throat. "Daddy – what's going on?"

I heard my dad sigh. "Dawn – I'll – I'm on my way. I can't explain on the phone."

And he hung up.

Only to appear right in front of me.

I couldn't help it – I screamed. Only, my suppressed sob came out with it, until I was choking through tears.

My dad looked shocked, his eyes slightly too wide as he held out his hands and took a step towards me.

"No!" I yelled, backing away. I stared at the stranger I'd called my father for so long and felt actual fear. Fear and anger.

I watched as my dad's hands dropped, hurt plain on his face. Funny, but I don't remember him having the right to be hurt. I was the one who had been lied to all this time. "Dawn, I – I was trying to protect you."

I glared through the tears. "Do I look protected?" I demanded, feeling hot, stinging tears fall.

"You look alive."

I shook my head, wiping my cheeks on my blazer. "And what about mum? You had to lie about her to?"

My dad closed his eyes, suddenly looking tired and much older. "Dawn, just sit down and I'll tell you everything."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out, silently I sat down on the couch, staring at my daddy intently.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, dad took a seat on the other couch, looking down at the floor. There was a long pause before he began to speak.

"When I attended Hogwarts, so did your mother. We were two very different people, the kind that didn't mix. There was always – something – between us, something that we tried to ignore – for everyone's own good." He paused to take a deep breath; his eyes still remained glued to the floor, as if it was offering him some kind of strength.

"There's something you should know Dawn, before you decide to go running off to Hogwarts. There are bad people – dangerous people – people like…" He paused and took in a deep breath and letting it out again. "People like Voldemort." My dad finally met my eyes, and I stared back into those dark, troubled eyes. "After I left school, I joined this order to stop Voldemort. Your mother, she joined Voldemort. A few years after joining, I was asked to retrieve some information and I met your mother. We…" He broke off with a sigh, searching for the words or maybe, the strength. Maybe he should look at the floor again. "We had been dating secretly for six months when she fell pregnant with you. Dawn, you have to understand; we were young and didn't know what to do. Your mother and I went into hiding just before she began to show, but people noticed our disappearance. We promised that no matter what, you would be safe. After you were born, your mother returned to Voldemort saying that she killed me and that our past feelings made things difficult for her." He shrugged. "Everyone though I was dead, so I brought you into hiding, keeping you safe from all that. I did what I thought was best. We all would have been killed if I hadn't took you away from that world."

I felt myself shiver, a tingle down my spine. "What happened to mum?"

His eyes grew very sad and I caught a glimpse at a person would was still in love. It unnerved me to think that my dad felt that way; I've always though of him as this unmovable mountain of strength, the person I could rely on. Why was everything changing?

"I haven't seen her since she left, for her to come here would mean we would have to move and I know how close you are to your friends…" He sighed once more. "Dawn, I understand why your upset, but I don't want you going to Hogwarts to spite me."

I bite my lip, but it felt numb, almost as if I wasn't actually wake. Oh God, please be that this is a bad dream.

"I want to go, dad. I want to be normal." I rose, watching as my dad's mouth opened in protest, but no words came out, and departed for my room.

Bunking off school sounds great, but actually it gets quite boring. I blared some music, read, for Gods sake, I even revised for physics. Time slowly passed and I found myself staring at the ceiling, just for something to do. Giving up, I logged onto facebook, wondering if anyone would be online.

On my homepage were a few updates, but there was only one I really cared about.

**Crystal Mieng: **Okays, theres this random dude with a long beard in my living room and mums like going ape shitt. Loooool. Weird or what?

The comment was made forty-seven minutes ago. Intrigued, I fished through my blazer, which some how appeared on my bedroom floor, and retrieved my mobile phone. Flipping it open, I scrolled down to Crystal's number and hit call.

It didn't take Crystal long to answer. "Hello?"

"Crystal?" I asked, frowning. Herr voice sounded different, maybe it was the phone, but she sounded horse, like she had been shouting. Knowing Crystal and her mum, which most probably was it.

"Dawn? Hey!" Her voice changed instantly. "Has your dad got back yet? You would not believe what happened when I got home. I was asking my mum about my dad, and she kept snapping at me and saying that she didn't want to talk about it. So I was like, 'what? That he was a wizard?' and she lost it. Shouting, 'who told you?' and 'why was I doing this to her?' and all that. We had this big argument and I couldn't take anymore, so I went up to my room to have a fag and some much needed facebook. About fifteen minutes and two fags later, there was a knock on the door and I looked out of my room to see who it was-"

"Some random dude with a long beard." I finished for her.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn't see me. "Facebook you assshole. Anyway, continue."

There was a slight pause. "Oh yeah. Anyway, he asked my mum if he could have a talk with her and me. I could tell she so did not want to let him in, but you know my mum, doesn't want to seem rude. So this guy – Dumbledore or something – starts saying that how I need to learn how to control my magic and that my dad would have wanted it that way, blah, blah, blah. Yeah and my mum just sat there, _nodding_. He said that if I wanted to go Hogwarts, I would have to have catch-up lessons, get all the 'appropriate' things and stay with a magical family over the summer so I have a basic knowledge of watch their world would be like and that I would be going there in a week, if I wanted to, of course."

"Jesus," I whispered, "Did you actually breathe at all when you were saying all of that?"

Crystal laughed. "I hope so. What about you and your dad? Is he home yet?"

"Yeah," I sighed, closing my eyes and laying on my bed. "Turns out my parents are some next Romeo and Juliet and that there's some evil guy with some next funky name that would kill them if he found out."

"Wow," Crystal breathed. "You win of the whole I-got-the-most-crazy-problems contest."

"Thanks," I heard the doorbell ring and my dad opening it. "I'll talk to you later, theres someone at the door."

"Oohh, some random dude with a beard?"

I laughed. "I let you know."

"You'd better. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up.

"Dawn?" My dad's head poked around my door. "Can you some down stairs?"

I nodded and rose, following him down to the living room in silence.

The person who sat on the leather couch wasn't some random dude with a beard; in fact, it wasn't a dude at all. The aging woman had her almost all grey hair pulled back in a no-nonsense bun, a pair of small square glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose, and there was a tartan shawl resting on her shoulders.

"You must be Dawn," Her Scottish accent was thick. "I'm professor McGonagall." Her tone was professional and gave me the impression that this wasn't a woman to be messed with. I shook her hand and sat on the opposite couch, my dad hovered, looking worried.

"Well," she began. "It's nice to see that you are well John." My dad fidgeted, shoulders slightly hunched as if he was a small boy being told off.

Her greyish green eyes turned to me. "You are aware of Hogwarts, correct?" I nodded. "Good," she allowed herself a small smile. "Then I'll get to the point. You'll need to learn how to control your magic, it a wonder how you haven't caused any serious damage already," She sent another sharp look at my dad before continuing. "Hogwarts can help you do so." She paused and adjusted her shawl. "The Headmaster of Hogwarts – Professor Dumbledore – has proposed that you begin your studies and take extra classes to catch-up on the four years that you missed. He has also arranged for you to spend the summer with a magical family where you can learn the every day customs and some tutoring can be arranged to cover the basics."

My dad interrupted. "Which family?"

McGonagall raised a brow. "Molly and Arthur Weasley's family."

My dad smiled faintly and nodded like the name meant something to him.

"Because of the unforgiving timing, you have to decide within a week and also retrieve you wand and other essentials."

"Wand?" I found my brows knotting together.

"Yes, wand." She produced a long, thin, smooth, polished stick from inside her emerald robes and handed it to me.

Cautiously, I took it, the wood felt solid and smooth under my skin. The sudden feeling a being whole rose. Well not whole – but almost. It was strange; I had no idea that there was something missing up until now.

Reluctantly, I have McGonagall back her wand and resisted the urge to rub the tingle away from my hand. "I want to go."

My dad sighed. "Dawn,"

"No," I said, hearing the stubbornness in my voice. "I want to go, I have a right to."

McGonagall smiled. "There is much of Isabelle in her."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

The mention of my mother's name was like a wash of ice-cold water being thrown over me. "You knew – know – my mum?"

The older woman nodded. "I taught both her and your father through out their school years."

"I don't want you to go Dawn." My fathers voice held the parental authority that made feel five years old again.

"Yeah, and I don't want to believe that I've been lied to all my life, but I guess we don't always get what we want." I snapped.

"Dawn." He warned.

"If you have any problems, Professor Dumbledore would happily reassure you, John."

I had to smirk at the sudden schoolboy look on my dad's face.

"Daddy, please. You and mum got to go." My voice softened and I did the big brown eyes that normally got me what I wanted. Normally.

Suddenly looked defeated against two women, he sighed and nodded. "We'll go shopping tomorrow."

I grinned. "No school?"

Rolling his eyes, dad nodded. "No work either."

Wow I revised for no reason.

"I shall inform Professor Dumbledore for your decision," McGonagall's voice held a tone of approval. Yep, defo a teacher.

Oh and then she vanished.

"Why does everyone suddenly seem to do that?" I demanded, hand over my racing heart.

"Apparition. You'll learn when you're seventeen." My dad rose and wandered towards the kitchen. "What do you want for dinner? Order pizza? I don't feel like cooking."

"Yeah," I hadn't realised until now how hungry I was. "Please."

I stalked off to my room and opened up my laptop to log on to msn. It was six, but I knew my friends.

I was on for four seconds.

Mrs. Kailah lil wayne. Shett:

OMFG! ARE YOU GOING? I'M GOING! SHITT…

Dawn and cookie dough ice cream. Yum…x:

Yes!

Alyssa-and-b5, Alice: Davina's the other night loool, Crystal the demented Barbie, Yuki-asian-ness, Davina-grr-some-ppl-just-dnt-get-da-hint, HAS JOINED THE CONVERSATION

Davina's the other night loool:

Im going

Crystal the demented Barbie:

So are we

Yuki-asian-ness:

So are we

Alice: Davina's the other night loool:

Oh cut the crap. I foresee that we are all going

.

Davina-grr-some-ppl-just-dnt-get-da-hint:

Yay. Sexiness lol

"Dawn? Order the pizza will you?" My dad's voice called from down stairs.

Dawn and cookie dough ice cream. Yum…x:

G2G BYE ME DARLIN'S

XXX

We said our goodbyes and I signed off.

Today stared out normal and changed into something extraordinary. The very thought of what lay in wait was overwhelming and the best part was that the six people I loved were going to experience it with me. But the niggling feeling of Voldie-whatever and my mum still loomed like a dark cloud just over the horizon.

Well, we'll worried about that another time, now it's all about pepperoni and bacon stuffed crust and ice cream.

You know, sometimes life is truly grand.

Shame it doesn't last long, eh?

Okay, I already started the next so keep your panties on. Hope you like the story so far. Yuki and Crystal, I demand that you write this chapter in you own POV 'kays?

The next chapter should be way more fun. We are all going shopping. Yum.

Xxx

As always, I love you all.

Keep reading.

Lisa


	3. Chapter 3

To my Yuki and Crystal: This one is for you, may the mayhem you cause bring a smile to your lips.

Kailah: You finally get to meet my dad.

Alyssa: We'll shall find a new song to sing in 2010, promise. (Take That, Rule the world)

Alice and Davina: the last chapter was a little grim, so I'm bringing out your fun side that I get to see every day.

Well lads, it may have been ages, but I WILL finish this story, even if it kills me.

Love you guys just as much as my ghd's (that's saying something)

Your Dawn, xxx.

The ticking of various instruments filled the large circular room, a monotone compared to the whispers that conversed with each other. The voices did not come from any place that is to be expected, but from the numerous paintings hanging on every wall space imaginable. There was a sudden stillness in the air and the voices decreased into expected silence and a tall and slightly wizened figure appeared with a slight _Pop. _The man's long fingers smoothed his deep blue robe, brushing his silver beard out of his way. Perched on his crooked nose, were half moon spectacles, framing the twinkle in his electric blue eyes.

"Come now," He said casually. "You won't get answers unless you ask the questions."

There was a sudden round of noise as voices spoke over each other, each wanting to be heard. A dark gothic-like painting of a man with dark eyes and goatee raised his voice, the air of importance and obvious arrogance laced through each word.

"The girls, Dumbledore. We wish to know of the seven girls."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to answer, but there was a loud bang as the door to the office swung open, the momentum almost taking it off its hinges.

A woman swayed under the shadow of the threshold, her eyes wide and unfocused, and the large bottle glasses that were lopsided on the smaller part of her nose magnified her already abnormally large eyes. Her mousy brown hair was fizzy and sticking out in tuffs, many coloured shawls and beads hung to the tall and thin figure, the impression of a mad insect was uncanny.

She stumbled into the room and the atmosphere was quiet as every eye – painted or other wise was turned to the woman.

"Sybil?" Professor Dumbledore asked, taking a step towards her, his hands out as if to catch the woman.

At the sound of Dumbledore's voice, her head turned and a deep voice emitted out from her frail throat.

"The seven shall change everything!" the voice boomed into the confined space, it's projection ringing into the silence like an echo. "The Seven Sirens will change the very fabric of Fate's plans. Lives will be saved, lost. They will unweave the carefully woven map of the future and create a new one. They will change the past, present and future, bend Greater Powers at their will and two paths shall be formed. One shall lead to peace and happiness that our world has ever seen, the other, death, so much death. The fire that burns is endless and the Seven shall emerge from the flames, their Power… The Sirens are nothing this world has ever seen since the Dawn of Magic. They are our Magic, our source. Seven Girls, Seven gifts, Seven Sirens."

The voice died and the woman coughed, her whole frame shaking with the effort. "Oh," She said, her tone perplexed. "Professor?"

Dumbledore paused; lines of worry showing against his already lined and weathered skin, before smiling. "Ah, yes Sybil. I was wondering whether or not you have seen my stash of sherbet lemons, only, I seem to have miss placed them."

"Err," The woman frowned quizzing at the man but didn't question him or his strange request. "No, I don't believe I have."

"Oh," He replied cheerfully. "Well then, never mind. Thank you."

After a long pause, the woman left, looking over her shoulder at Dumbledore before muttering about a glass of sherry.

When the door had shut firmly behind her, did the voices started once more.

"Silence!" Dumbledore raised his voice ever so slightly and the room plunged into the silence he had asked for.

"Dumbledore," The painting of the man who had spoken before. "Could this – this prophecy relate the seven girls?"

Another voice piped up, a plump woman with a motherly face. "What are sirens? I never heard of the term used in our world." There were a few murmurs of agreement.

Dumbledore sighed, looking every year of his age. "Legend told that in the Dawn of time, there was only muggles and seven female sirens. It is said that they bestowed their power into some of the muggles and they became wizards and witches. United, the Seven can awaken a power of old, that they can take back the magic they gave, that they can destroy this world and create a new one. They are our equivalent to our gods – goddesses – an ancient and forgotten text once told that they would be reincarnated when the world is close to it's end."

"Are you saying those girls are goddesses – that can destroy the world?" once voice demanded, others following suit.

"I am saying that they may be, there has to be a reason for why the Sirens would be reborn at this particular time, it is a great significance if they are the seven."

"Yes," The dark-haired painting nodded. "_If _they are."

Waking up is hard; it's when you are in limbo between reality and dreams. I didn't really want to wake up, because my dream was based on wands, magic and a lot of Ben and jerry's cookie dough ice cream. So you can see why waking up was kind of something I didn't want to do.

"Dawn! I've been calling you for ages. Get up, we got a lot of things to do today."

I peeked open one eye and saw through a curtain of now straight brow hair, the time.

I sat bolt up, my heart pounding in my throat, as I looked around frantically. "Daddy! What day is it?" I scrambled out of the covers, thinking back to the date I wrote in my schoolbooks yesterday, I was nearly sure it was meant to be a Wednesday.

"Wednesday,"

Shit, why hadn't he called me up sooner? And shouldn't he be at work?

"Dawn, breakfast's is on the table. Get your arse down here. Now."

Frowning, I made my way down stairs. When I reached the bottom, I almost tripped over a large trunk. "What the..?" I cursed under my breath, rubbing my throbbing toe. "Daddy, what's this?" I nodded towards the large brown trunk.

"It's my Hogwarts trunk. I'm going to have a look and see if there's anything you can use."

I felt my mouth open into a perfect O. "So it wasn't a dream?" I breathed, suddenly feeling hot and cold all at the same time.

Dad looked up from cracking his boiled eggs, grinning. "Yeah, it's real." He motioned me to sit at the table. "Eat up, once we sorted through my trunk, we have to get a tube and go to the Leakey Cauldron."

"Huh?" I dipped my solider into my runny egg. "Nice eggs," I commented, taking a bite into the gooey yellow mixture.

"Thanks. The Leakey Cauldron, it's a bar that you go into to get to Diagon Alley." There must a have been a question mark on my face. "Where all the shops are."

"Oh." I took another bite. "Can my friends come?"

"No."

"Why?" I demanded, abandoning my breakfast.

"Because muggles – non magic people – can't know about us."

I frowned, biting the inside of my cheek. "But Snape said that they all were magic too and that they could go Hogwarts if they wanted."

"Snape?" My dad's eyes widened in surprise. "He's working for Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, he's a professor. Why? And can they go or what?"

"Jesus, a professor." He shook his head. "He was a Deatheater last time I heard."

"I'm sorry, a what? And can they go?"

"A Deatheater, a person who follows Voldemort. Your mother was one. And yeah, if they want to, but wouldn't they be in school?"

"Probably," I nodded, taking a spoon to scoop out the white bit. "But Alyssa can hypnotise them out if I text them."

My dad looked shocked. "She can _what?_"

"Hypnotise, you know, make people do stuff. That's how we got out yesterday. Alice can see into the future, Crystal can move stuff without touching them. Yuki can read minds and Kailah can…" I frowned. "She said she could heal people."

My dad pushed way his plate. "No wonder Dumbledore wants you at Hogwarts. It would be dangerous not to have you there."

"What?"

"Dawn," He leaned forward and looked intently at me. "No one has that kind of power – no one. But a lot of people would do a great deal to get it." He shook his head, eyes suddenly looking troubled. "Finish your breakfast and then call your friends. Tell them to bring all the money they can and we'll get it changed for them."

"Okay," I finished my breakfast in silence before we both tackled his trunk.

It was large and brown with a strange crest with a snake, a lion, a bird, a badger and a large H in the centre.

It swung open almost eagerly, as if it wanted to open for so long. "You can use the trunk," my dad muttered, plunging a hand into its great big gaping mouth. He came out with a wand similar to Professor McGonagall's, only his was a pale almost grey type of wood. "Ash wood, Leprechaun hair, twelve inches." He fingered the wand wistfully. "We'll have to get you your own today."

Slowly, he put the wand down beside him and turned back to the trunk and lifting out large and dusty books. "You can use these, you should read them before you go to Hogwarts." He handed me a few that were labelled, _the dark forces: a guide to self-protection, Standard book of spells grade five and six, Magical drafts and potions._

The titles were endless.

"Read all this?" my voice was eager, I could never turn down a good book.

My dad nodded absently and flung a black cloak to the side. "You won't need that,"

He took put a large back pot, which was beginning to rust, I believe it was a cauldron. "Need to wash that," and pulled out a telescope and some scales and a red and gold scarf. "You might need that," he grinned at me then the scarf. "Hogwarts is split into four houses," He explained. "Gryffindor," he waved his scarf. "the brave. Slytherin the cunning and proud., Ravenclaw, the cleaver and all that. And Hufflepuff the loyal."

I nodded and opened up a leather-bound book at the top of the pile, faces grinning up at me. "It moved!" I dropped the book as if it burned, my dad peering over my shoulder to have a look. "Yeah, pictures move." He picked up the photograph. "I forgot I had this. Here" he pointed to a boy with jet-black hair and a maturing face. "This was me on my last year," he pointed to another black haired boy with glasses. "That's James Potter, he was in the year below me, Sirius Black," the pointed to the boy with growing dark hair and a handsome structured face. "Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.." He indicated a scruffy-looking boy and a plump one. "And Lily Evans, she married Potter." A girl with vivid red hair and startling green eyes beamed up at me before turning to James and resting her head on his shoulder.

"James and Lily died when you were one," I looked up to see dad's face, searching for any sign of the man I had seen when he spoke of my mum, the man who was broken, but only his eyes showed the sadness he felt. "They're son is about your age, maybe a bit younger." I nodded and placed the photo back inside the book and closed it. "I'd better call my friends."

I left my father and his trunk, slowly walking up the stairs. From the sound of things, the past for my dad wasn't always a happy one. Figures, since he never really wanted to talk about his life. It's all about you Dawn, you're the one who matters, he would say.

I closed my bedroom door softly and walked over to my desk where my mobile sat, everything seemed suddenly quite. Opening it, I dialled Alyssa first. "Hey," I greeted when she answered. "I'm going shopping with my dad to get some stuff I need for Hogwarts. Want to come?"

"Yeah, hold on." There were muffled voices and a slight pause. "Sure, how much should I bring?"

"I don't know," I admitted, biting my lip. "As much as you can."

"Okay."

"My place, at twelve. Bye, Hun."

Davina was next. "Dawn? Hey."

"Hi, how did it go with your mum?" I leaned back against the pillows on my bed, legs crossed.

"Oh, in the end she caved, but only because my dad was all 'let her go if she wants to' and Dumbledore kind of told my mum she didn't have a choice. Well, he didn't say that, but I could totally tell."

"Uh-huh. Well, my dad's taking me shopping and he said you guys could come. You up for it?"

"Mum!" I winced as Davina shouted through the phone.

"Jesus," I mumbled. "Ever thought of going to your mum?"

"Oh sshh you. Mum? Can I go shopping with Dawn and her dad to get my Hogwarts things? Oh – please? Fine, I'll just ask dad." There was stubbornness to Davina's voice that made me smile. "Yeah, sure. What time?"

"My place, twelve."

"Right. Should I ask the rest?"

I smiled in relief, knowing that my credit would be saved. "Please."

"Okay, see you soon."

"See ya." I hung up.

"Hi Mr Heart," My friends chimed politely, giving the impression that they were angelic little dears. My dad wasn't fooled.

"Hey girls, you excited about Hogwarts?" He locked the front door and pocketed the keys.

"Yeah," Kailah nodded, speaking for the group. My friends always seem to go all quite and shy around my dad. I guess the broken nose and scarred knuckles didn't help give the impression of your average father.

Walking ahead to give us some privacy, I turned to them all. "So, your parents let you come?"

"Please," Alice rolled her eyes and shook her head. "My mum thinks I'm at the post office."

"I kind of just walked out of the house." Crystal admitted, linking arms with Yuki. "But I called my uncle last night and he said that he would give me some money." She shrugged. "Turns out, he's been trying to convince my mum about letting me go to Hogwarts for years."

"Your mum's brother?" Kailah asked, frowning, her arm linking with mine.

"Nah, dad's."

The train was packed; the lunch rush hour was at its best. The July heat was maddening. The air felt like it was colourless smoke, pressing against you, and please, just please, do not get me started on the bodies that moulded against yours, the feeling both awkward and intimate at the same time. Urgh, the idea of a stranger's body being so close made me press myself closer to the pole I clung to, trying not to loose my balance as the train shook.

I caned my neck to make sure I could spot everyone, all wore the same pissed-off look that I was sure was on my own face.

"Girls," I heard the slight muffle of my dad's voice. "This ones our stop."

I smiled apologetically to the faceless suit, as I brushed past to get to the exit.

We piled onto the platform, taking grateful gulps of air, I turned just in time to see my dad, red faced, getting off, a plump and slightly batty middle-aged woman trying to smile seductively to his back.

"Let's go," He muttered, giving me a warning glare, meaning, I was not to comment.

Linking again, we followed.

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard," I sang, shaking my hips to the music in my head.

"You still singing that?" Alyssa demanded as the rest laughed.

"Wow Dawn, you can wine." Alice grinned, following to the beat.

"La, la, la-la-laaa. The boys are getting La, la, la-la-laaa" I wiggled my arse some more in rotating motions.

"Dawn," My father called from somewhere up ahead. "I hope you don't dance like that around boys."

"No daddy," I replied innocently as the rest stifled their laughter.

"Hey Dawn," Kailah leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "You still haven't told your dad about what's-his-name? The one you picked up at Camden?"

I looked at the back of my father and shook my head. "It'd be twenty years before the bruises start to fade."

We left the train station and began a long trek, weaving in between shops and hidden roads, Alice moaning all the way. "Hmmm? What is this? I'm really moaning, this long trek, Dawn, why doesn't your dad have a car?"

Alyssa glared. "Alice, just be quiet."

"If I'd have known I'd be walking this next long marathon, I would have worn better shoes. But no one tells me these things."

"Alice," Crystal and Yuki warned in the same tone.

"Sshh, Just no. I've been walking around all day and my feet are killing me. Do you think we can get a cab?"

"We're here." The relief in my dad's voice was clear that I had to smile.

But that smile died when I stared at a small grubby bar that was boarded up, its windows blacked out.

"Are you serious?" Alice demanded. "That long trek for this?"

I couldn't help but agree. It was a miracle the place was still standing, no doubt the council would want to tear it down and replace it with something pretty.

Rolling his eyes, my dad opened a door I didn't realise was there and walked in, holding it open.

"I am so buy hand sanitizer after this." Alice muttered and walked in.

"It is a bit minging though, isn't it?" Crystal asked, her nose wrinkling in distaste. Yuki nodded. "Jeez man, do these people not know how to wash? First it was Emo and now its this…" She shook her head and looked at Crystal. "Together?"

"Defo."

The pair walked in.

I looked at the last three. "May as well."

"If it's good enough for Miss Thing, then I'm sure I'll survive." Alyssa grinned and nudged me.

Davina laughed. "Watch when some pervert tries to chat Miss Thing up in her batty-riders."

"Oh Lord," Kailah muttered and together, we plunged into the grubby darkness.

If this was a bar, it was the strangest one I knew. I know some may be quiet, but this… this was just silence. Every eye stared at my dad as if they were staring at a ghost, my friends and I didn't exist for all they knew.

"Your looking good John," The man at the bar said, a dirty rag cleaning a glass in his hand. "For a dead man."

I saw my dad shrugged, and he grinned easily at the man. "Unless there's a body to prove it, a person is not dead. And even with a body, you can never be sure."

There was something to what he said, something that had meant more to the people in the room, than to me, because furious whispers erupted.

Shrugging, my dad carried on to the other side of the bar, I followed my friends behind, then silence once more.

"She looks just like Isabelle," a voice called from the back, back enough that I couldn't see.

And just like that, I swear I could hear the _Snap_ going off in his head. There was a blur of motion and a flash of white light, making black spots dance in front of my vision. Blinking them away, I saw a gangly figure, suspended above a fallen chair, legs kicking for the purchase that just wasn't there.

"If anyone else wants to make a comment about my daughter," the emotionless voice that came out of my dad's mouth made me shiver, as he looked steadily at the bar's occupants, the wand in his hand never wavering. "Please do so now, and get it out of the way."

And again, silence.

Nodding with somewhat satisfaction, dad made a jerking movement with his wrist and the man went sailing down to the ground, a surprised yell emitting from him.

"Shett man," Crystal muttered, Yuki nodding in agreement.

"Whoa," and "OhMyGod." And other whispers of astonishment came form the mouths behind me.

I had to roll my eyes, that man had the cheek to say I was the one who needed anger management? Talk about being hypocritical. But I couldn't help it, okay, my mum was a death-thingy, so what? It's just this cult kind of thing, it's not as if she killed anybody, right?

Right?

"Daddy?" I gave a sort of raised eyebrow look at him, chewing at my bottom lip.

I watched as the stranger wearing my dad's face soften and mould back into the familier easy grin that I was so use to. Yet the tightness around his eyes, the tension in his muscles, the set in his jaw. Some part of me wondered why my mother was such an issue with him, whenever he spoke of her to me, there was pride and love in his voice. Yet, one of these people mentions her and he looses it?

I really should have taken that as a sign that this was a very different world.

"Lets go," I suggested weakly, trying to avoid the curious eyes. Well, every dad is meant to be embarrassing, why should mine be an exception?

Nodding, my dad turned his back on everyone and carried on walking, the rest of the group and I more than happy to follow.

Nobody spoke as w reached the back door and silently slipped out, the pressing July heat rushing at us as we came face-to-face with a large stonewall, blocking off our route.

"Um," I turned to see Davina looking at the wall with raised brows. "Is this it?"

"Urgh, I really hope not." Alice mumbled, arms crossed, eyes to the heavens.

"No," My dad smiled, as he tried not to laugh at Alice. He produced his wand and tapped a brick that was a shade blacker than the ones surrounding it. We watched as the brick sunk in and suddenly, began on fold back on its self, the others following pursuit.

I watched with wide eyes as a bright and colourful world revealed itself from behind the magical bricks.

"Sweet baby Jesus." I whispered.

"Welcome to Diagon alley, girls." I felt my dad's arm wrap round my shoulder as he gave me a brief hug. "First, lets go get your wands."


	4. Chapter 4

To Yuki: whose always on the same wavelength as me, when it comes to paranormal stuff.

To Crystal and Alice: Lord help me, what am I going to do with you?

To Davina: "Don't cuss."

To Kailah: "I've met John!" Yeah, you sure have sweetie. Oh and winky face..x

To Alyssa: My alcohol-free zone, may you inspire me to behave. You deserve to live to over a hundred.

Okay, this chapter, we are unleashed, and causing trouble the way only we can, hope you enjoy and as always, this is for you.

Me arseholes…x

Dawn

Diagon alley is something out of a fairytale. Everywhere you turned there was old-fashioned stores selling large cauldrons, hissing black cats, fire-belching silver tins and so much more. This shouldn't have been real; I swear down, it belonged in a book, not in my life. I looked at the rest, all eyes big, round and glassy. I wondered if mine was like that, because, honestly, I felt like I did when I was six years old and in Toys 'r' us.

My dad led us to a small and weathered looking shop, it's gold lettering proclaiming it to be _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC._

"Hey," Alyssa looked at the sign that hung over-head. "Do you think he knew Jesus?"

I opened my mouth, but my dad's laughter made me pause. "Why don't you ask him yourself?" he grinned, pushing open the door.

The tinkling of the bell rang softly as we stepped over the threshold, gazing around the tiny shop and it's single wooden chair. The walls were covered with long, narrow boxes, reaching up to the ceiling, yet there was something…buzzing about the still shop. Something…alive.

"Did anyone else feel that?" Kailah whispered, rubbing her arms.

"Magic, my dear." A soft voice came from somewhere amongst the shop. An old man, with pale, shining eyes stood before us, his presence making my heart race with slight surprise.

His pale eyes found my dad and he smiled. "Ah, John Heart. I hope you have been keeping good care of your wand. Ash wood, twelve inches?"

I watched as my dad nodded guiltily, his hand gently holding his wand.

He turned his curious eyes to my and the gang, "I received a letter from Dumbledore, explaining the situation. Right," he looked at Kailah, "You first?"

"Um,"

"Excellent."

My dad cleared his throat. "I'll go get your money changed at Gringotts," everyone began to produce bank notes and handed it over. "Right so, that's a hundred for you, one-fifty for you…"

Once he was told for like the eight time, he left.

I leaned against the wall and watched as the old man examined her right arm. He began to measure, from wrist to elbow, shoulder to the tip of her index finger, width length, maybe even the bloody area too. When he was finished, he somehow produced a long thin box. "Try this. Yew, seven inches, phoenix hair, nice and supple." He handed it to her and told her to wave it. Looking at the rest of us with awkward eyes, Kailah waved the wand in her hand, and sending Alice flying across the room.

"You did that on purpose!" Came the small, feisty girl's muffled accusation.

Kailah tried to keep a sober expression. "Did not."

"Did so,"

"Not."

"So."

"Oh dear," Ollivander shook his head, plucking the wand from Kailah's grasp and handing it to Alyssa. "You try."

Her answering grin made me feel uneasy. Deliberately, she pointed at Alice, who at this point had her absurdly curvaceous arse in the air as brought herself up from the floor.

Torn between laughter and guilt, I shook my head. "Nah, c'mon."

There was a sudden flash of pure white light; it's harshness making me squint and look away. I'm not sure when the light died, because I was seeing black spots, my vision blurry, until Alice's piercing laughter cut though. "Oh" she gasped, doubling over and holing her sides. "My – God" she wheezed, tears streaming down her rich coca cheeks.

Blinking, I looked around, eyes resting on Alyssa, her usual dark and smooth hair was a pure shade of white, crackling with electricity and sticking out in tuffs.

"Oh…" Kailah took one long look at her friend, before bending over with laughter, her head bobbing, up, down, up down, down and then she hit the floor.

"What?" Alyssa demanded, eyes disbelieving. "I think this one is faulty," Then her eyes narrowed. "You did this," she pointed accusingly at Alice. "You and you next unholy voodoo crap."

The old man looked positively petrified. Aw, bless. I don't think he's used to having a bunch of mad girls unleashed onto his small and unprotected shop.

It was going to be a long day.

After the whole Alice/Alyssa fiasco, we actually calmed down and behaved, like we all did at school, a week before parents evening. Davina was the first to find her wand, although I wouldn't have guessed – nothing happened only that she started jumping up and down, saying, "OhMyGosh." Not pausing for breath, "ThisIsMine."

"Evergreen, Phoenix core, 11.5 inches. Light." Ollivander nodded, as if it all made sense.

Yuki was next, her dark brown eyes going wide. "This is so cool," she breathed, holding her wand up so she could admire it better. Alyssa and Alice ducked, obviously they learned they're lesson. Yuki's was Leprechaun hair, Oak, 12 inches. Flexible.

Then it was Kailah, who looked both scared and fascinated as she learned that her wand was Unicorn hair, Maple wood, 13.5 inches, unyielding.

I was suddenly becoming bored, having not found my wand, and the pile of magic sticks were growing, I wondered, if I would ever get a wand.

"Cherry wood, Dragon Heartstring, 12 inches. Well balanced." The tone in Mr. Ollivander's voice implied then I wasn't the only one getting bored. The wand was passed round, first Crystal, then Alyssa, and as I reached out my hand for the wand, a warm tingling sensation coursed through my veins like electrified blood. As soon as the long, thin magic stick touched the bare skin of my hand, I suddenly felt…complete, as if I was missing a part of me until now. It was as if the wand had become an extension of my arm, a part of me. "Mine." I looked up at everyone else. "This is so mine."

Crystal found hers almost immediately after I did, Elm, 11 inches, Leprechaun hair, smooth. Ollivander told us all proudly that it was the hair from the same head as Yuki's wand. Then he started a long lecture on how they must have a strong connection or bond forged between them. Please, tell me something I don't know.

I watched, with a smile as Alice and Alyssa were the only ones left. This, as always, should be interesting.

The pile of already-tried wands was getting larger, and I was beginning to wonder if maybe, Mr. Ollivander didn't have a wand to suit the unlikely pair.

I sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, feeling the heat creep up on me, with so many people in such a small and confined space, it was starting to get harder to breathe. Claustrophobic? Me?

"Finally," I heard Alyssa mutter, her hair now normal, as she gazed down at the wand in her hand with a raised brow. "You took your time."

"Are you talking to your wand?" Alice demanded, hands on hips.

"Ah, Rosewood, Veela hair, 13 inches sturdy."

"Shut up, just `cus you can't find yours" her tongue stuck itself out at Alice, not really listening to the wand maker, who sighed and looked defeated.

Flashing the 'magic' finger back, Alice rolled her eyes and turned her frustration on the poor shopkeeper. "How many more left?"

"Don't worry Miss…"

"How many?"

"Twenty-seven."

Alice stamped her foot. "Aw, I'm moan-ing." She crossed her arms, looking every inch a rich-daddy's girl. "What if I don't find mine?"

"You will," Davina put her arm around Alice.

"Yeah," I nodded, "Don't worry."

"Fool," Kailah teased with a smile.

Crystal and Yuki gave her sympatric looks.

We all turned to Alyssa. "What?" she rolled her eyes. "well, she'll always have her voodoo."

Wand number nine, turned out to be Alice's wand, Willow, 12.5 inches, Phoenix core, swishy.

It would seem that Mr. Ollivander was glad to see us go.

"Oh," I paused, "My dad's not here." No money, the idiot, what was taking him?

"Don't worry, you can leave your wands here, and you father can collect them when he comes. Why don't you girls have a look around?"

"Sure," we really did scare the guy.

We all hurried out of the small shop, out into the blistering July heat. "This is real, isn't it?" Crystal looked back at the shop her pretty brown Asian eyes as wide as they could go.

"Yeah," I breathed, shaking my head and grinning. "It's real."

"Wow," Alyssa remarked.

"Yeah," Davina said wryly, "Wow."

"Excuse me, ladies." A voice floated towards us. "May I be pardoned to ask if you fine girls are interested in wand dust?"

"What?" Alyssa laughed, as a lanky, dirt-encrusted man broke free of some next shadow I didn't notice. "Is he trying to pimp us out?"

The man's long features drew up. "I do not understand."

"Pimp out, it means when some next dodgy man tries to…"

"What's 'wand dust'?" Alice injected, a dangerous gleam in her dark eyes.

The 'pimp' drew himself up into full height, which was quiet a lot if you got your ruler out to measure, and smiled the way any sale's person would. "The excess dust after your wand has produced a spell, when inhaled, can cause a pleasurable feeling of floating-ness…"

"You get high?" She cut in.

"Well,"

"How much?"

The man looked shocked, then pure delight crossed his face, you'd think we'd just saved his life or something. "Well, I can give you a sample, and if you want more, it'll be ten Galleons."

Alice didn't even blink at the new currency. She held out her hand, palm up, waiting.

The man reached inside his coat pocket, looking around. "You never got this from…"

"Whatever. Give me my free sample." She snapped her fingers to speed up the process.

In her hand, she held a small red silk bag that was fastened at the top; it looked out of the ordinary for the filthy dude it came from. We all stared at it, waiting for it to explode or something along those lines.

"Well, the pimp's gone." I looked up to see Alyssa looking around, eyes all dark and wary.

"Alice, are you seriously going to try it?" Kailah was looking from the bag to Alice, hands on hips her expression torn between shock and curiosity.

"I'll do it with you," Crystal volunteered, coming closer to inspect the bag.

Yuki shook her head and kissed her teeth, muttering "Fool," under her breath.

"Guys," Davina said, eyeing the bag with longing. "It could be dangerous," She almost seemed pained to have to be the one to suggest it.

"I've already thought about that," Alice said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh lord," Kailah said loudly.

"I swear Kailah can like heal people and shit?" she turned to the girl in question with expected raised brows. Kailah nodded. "So, anything goes wrong, she'll do whatever and we're ok."

"Yeah, well she can't bring people back from the dead," I snapped, glaring at the bag. "Can you?" I paused, looking at Kailah.

"Um," she gave a nervous laugh. "I never tried."

"Ok. So. What if it kills instantly?"

Alice rolled her eyes, "Please, stuff like that only happens if you mix alcohol and other drugs with it, and even then you have to have health conditions."

"Your not taking it," I ordered, crossing my arms over the 34 E's.

"I appreciate the concern Dawn, but honestly."

"Are you taking it, Crystal?" Davina asked, still eyeing the bag as Alice stuffed it down her bra.

Crystal sighed. "I might,"

Yuki kissed her teeth again.

My dad turned up after that, oblivious to the fact that Alice just got herself free drugs. When I was younger, I used to think my dad was psychic, that he could always tell what I was up to, and sometimes, when ever he walked passed my bedroom, I used to stop thinking of x-rated scenes with whatever guy I like that week and pictured rainbows and unicorns. Of course, that theory diminished when I started sneaking off my friends to parks with bottles of vodka and whiskey, and came home with breath smelling of Extra's chewing gum.

So, my dad's not psychic, just a wizard.

After purchasing our wands, dad handed us each a pouch-full of coins, most of them gold, with a few silver and bronze.

"The gold one is called a Galleon, the silver Sickles and the bronze ones are called Knuts."

"Ah," we all nodded as if this was important and that we understood.

"Right so," My dad said cheerfully. "I'll go get your book and equipment, why don't you girls have a look around, buy something nice?"

We all nodded.

"Behave yourselves and stay together."

"Okay, bye dad."

"Bye Mr. Heart."

My poor father, thinking if seven girls stuck together, they wouldn't attract attention, or trouble. Little did he know that, we demand attention, and hey, trouble and our gang are old friends.

Yeah, dad isn't psychic, just plain old hopeful

Stupid ass fool

Sorry, daddy, love you really.

We wandered around for a bit, enjoying the sights, chatting and giggling, singing and dancing along the cobbled street. People wearing bright coloured robes and pointy-witch hats paused to smile and shake their heads.

After a while, I paused, looking at the others. "Have you noticed that they are no kids around?"

Davina rolled her eyes and grinned at me. "Face it Dawn, you mean that they're no boys around."

I smiled. "Yeah," and gave a suggestive wink.

"Is there any place that would sell us alcohol?" Alice demanded. "It's hot and my feet hurt."

"Same," Alyssa agreed, for once, not telling the girl to shut up.

"Maybe we could ask someone?" Kailah supplied.

"Yeah," Alice agreed sarcastically. "Because we really are going to go up to someone and say, 'Hey, you know a place that will sell seven teenage girls alcohol in broad daylight?' Just no."

Kailah glared. "We don't need alcohol."

"Says the alcoholic," I muttered loudly.

Davina intervened. "Why don't we try there." She pointed to a small bar just up the street. "We can say, we just want some coke or something."

"Why don't Dawn do her thing?" Alice asked.

I sighed, already pulling my top down a bit, so the top of my red bra could be seen, and well, a lot of pale skin along with it.

"Aw bless you Dawn," Kailah muttered. "Your arms are like, a golden colour and your boobs are as white as milk."

"Shut up."

"You love me really."

The small bar was an improvement from the last one we had been in. The atmosphere had life to it, the sound of ringing laughter welcomed us.

Feeling slightly idiotic, I made a beeline to the bar, the girls close at my heels.

The tender smiled at us. "What can I get for you, ladies?"

"Um," I opened my mouth but Alice spoke for me. "What's the strongest you have?"

There were a few chuckles from behind and it took all I had not to turn and tell them to feck off.

The man behind the counter bit back a smile and raised a brow. "aren't you ladies a bit young?"

Alice placed her hands under my boobs and pushed up. "Do we look young?" she asked, then paused to look at me. "These are really soft."

"Gee, thanks."

The man cleared this throat, trying to keep from laughing, I guess. "How about some butter beers?" he suggested.

"What percentage is it?" she asked.

He didn't even blink. "68.7"

"We'll take it."

The bar tender nodded with a smile and went around the corner, only to appear with seven glass bottles of a rich brown liquid.

"Wow," Kailah breathed. I think the alcoholic had an orgasm.

"That's five Galleons, please."  
Alice all but shoved the five, large gold coins into his hand.

"Ta," I muttered, taking my bottle and fixing my top.

"68 percent." Alice grinned as we left the bar. "Like taking candy from a baby."

I opened my bottle and took a tentative sip, it was a rich taste, fizzy, and the powerful burning taste of strong alcohol wasn't present. Huh, well it would seem the magic people have better taste in drinks.

"It's nice," I commented as we walked down the street.

Yuki agreed, Davina was frowning. "It doesn't taste of alcohol."

"Hm?" Alice's eyes narrowed, "Let me taste." She grabbed the bottle from Davina's hand and took a swing. "This isn't 68 percent." She said once she swallowed.

I took another sip. "I don't think it's alcohol."

"I should sue." Alice seethed.

I rolled my eyes. "Never mind, eh?"

Alice was moaning. All along the road, about con men and fake alcohol. "Well at least I got the wand dust." She proclaimed at the end of her rant, fondly petting her right boob.

"Is that a broomstick?" Davina said, making me stop to look. In a shop window, was a long, sleek looking broom, the twigs at the end of the tail all perfectly aligned and in shape. A small bored beside the broom proclaimed it to be: Nimbus 2003, seeker's edition.

"Like, flying?" Kailah asked.

"Why don't we go and ask?" Yuki demanded, already in the shop.

I followed, Alyssa and Alice behind me, Kailah and Crystal and Davina taking up the rear.

Inside, the shop was almost empty, just and assistant piling a few wood polish tins onto a shelf. He smiled as we entered, "Afternoon," The young man, about nineteen, stepped away from the shelf. "What can I do for you?"

Yuki nodded to the window display. "Does that really fly?"

"Um, yeah." The boy looked kind of shocked, as if, how can you suggest that a broomstick doesn't fly?

"How much is it?" In some ways, Yuki has the same ruthlessness as Alice.

"It's on sale, six hundred and fifty Galleons."

"Shett." Yuki kissed her teeth. "That's to much, man."

The guy shrugged and gave an apologetic smile. "We have other ones," Yuki, Davina, Alice and Crystal followed, curious.

"You not going?" I asked Alyssa and Kailah.

"If I was meant to fly, I would have been born with wings." Alyssa replied solemnly.

Kailah giggled. "Tramp."

Once upon a time, it was just I, Kailah and Alyssa, until Davina cam along and formed the gang. We all just… clicked. And I suppose the fact that we are all witches had something to do with that.

"We should probably meet my dad now." I sighed, before calling the rest.

"I'll be back," Yuki threatened the guy with her dark eyes as she left the shop.

When we got back, there was seven piles of books on the floor, seven medium cauldrons, scales and other various equipment.

"Daddy?" I asked, once we got in earshot. "Can I have a broom?"

"Can you fly?" he asked.

"No."

"There's your answer."

"But," I glared at him. "Whose fault is it that I never got the chance to learn?"

My dad sighed, looking defeated. "We'll see."

"What about a pet?" I recalled a pet shop a few streets back.

"Dawn,"

"Please?"

I could see it turning over in his head, trying to find a way to argue with me, or any valid reason to why I can't have a pet.

There was none.

"I suppose… you are allowed them in Hogwarts…"

"Really?" Crystal looked happy. "I never had a pet."

"I had a goldfish once." Yuki supplied.

"RIP, Fluffy." Crystal nodded solemnly.

The pet shop was worse than our classroom on the last day of school, minutes before then bell will call summer. There was a restless air, that was full of noise, to others, but to me, it was voices.

Well, not voices exactly, more like emotions or needs, snippets that could be understood, like broken English.

"Thirsty…"

"Mark territory…"

"Hot…"

"Humans…"

Stuff like that.

I don't know when I broke away from the group, but I found myself along amongst a sea of animals.

"Dawn?" I turned to the voice but found no one.

"Dawn!" Frowning, I looked around, "Hello?"

"Over here!"

I found myself looking into green eyes of a sleek black cat. "How do you know my name?" I wasn't sure if the cat would understand my question, the pigeons outside my window never could.

"Get me out of here, please."

My jaw dropped. "W-what?"

"Dawn, please. Ill explain everything later. When the time comes."

I sighed, opening the cage and picking up the cat and hugging it close to my chest. "You got a name?"

"Yes, but you can choose one if you like."

"What you're real name?" I began to rub the spot behind the ear and a deep rumble of a purr emitted from the black cat, his fur soft to touch.

"Regulus. But you can't tell anyone." The green eyes made me feel uneasy.

"Um, so can I call you…Ronan?"

"Please don't"

"Shadow?"

"No."

"I'm calling you…Grumpy, after the seven dwarves."

I got a mental sigh. "If you must."

"Dawn! There you are." Crystal appeared amongst the clutter, a sleek raven perched on her shoulder. "This is Thorn," she petted the small head of the raven.

"Grumpy." I adjusted my grip on the cat.

Laughing, Crystal shook her head.

"Hey hun," Davina grinned, a snake coiling around her shoulders. "Meet Vodka."

"Poor snake."

"It's better than Grumpy."

"If you say so." I shook my head. I spotted Yuki with a ball of fluff in her hands.

"This is Fang," she said proudly, as a small baby duck quaked in her arms.

I didn't even comment.

Turns out, Alice found herself a white Persian cat, its fat face and beady eyes, looked at baby Fag with hunger. I guess Princess matched her owner very well.

Kailah and Alyssa found themselves a tiny ginger kitten, which could fit into the palm of their hands, but Tiger was fierce, Alyssa said he almost killed Princess.

I guess that's why they love him so much,

As we walked out of the shop, I looked daddy. "I still want a broom."


	5. Chapter 5

To Davina: had an amazing idea for you on the whole romance thing, but I shall not spill just yet…

To Crystal: I demand that you WRITE GIRL, you have no excuse now.

To Kailah and Alyssa: I know you don't like cats, but give Tiger a chance…

To Yuki: "Baby girl in the blue!"

To Alice: Behave.

Well I did promise I would write, and I spent all my weekend doing this, so be grateful.

You guys are going to be the death of me

Dawnie… xxx

To say that life went back to normal would be a lie. There was only one week of school left. But I demanded that I stayed home, reading the books that daddy bought for me. After a lot of arguing and pleading, I got my way. I wish I could say the same for Kailah, Yuki and Davina. Turns out, Crystal threw a mega tantrum with her mum, yelling all sorts about life-long lies and being selfish, she now is cooped up in her room, enjoying a week of no school, facebook and a guilty mum. Alyssa volunteered to go into school, but don't ask me why, she said that she might miss something important during those last five day that might save her life. Alice, well she's just bunking, waiting till her mother leaves for work, to go back home and drink at her secret stash of Malabo.

No matter how hard I tried, Regulus, aka Grumpy, would not talk to me about how he knew me. But don't worry, he can say 'shut up' pretty well.

With each passing day, I grew more and more excited, getting out my wand and admiring myself in the mirror. But my reflection was just a stick and I, no magical change there. Daddy talked about Hogwarts quite a lot, the classes, the castle, feasts, and lessons…

On Monday night, the eve of our deadline to decide whether or not to go, my dad paid me a visit to my room. "Dawn?"

"Yeah?" I was lounging on my bed, absently petting Grumpy as I leafed through a potions book, making note of the love potions…just for casual interest of course.

"Have you actually packed your trunk?"

"Um, yeah." I looked up. "Why?"

"Oh," my dad said in a light voice. "I was just wondering in what you were planning to go Hogwarts naked?"

I looked at him, frowning. "Er, no. Why?"

"Oh, it's just because you haven't packed any clothes."

Oh. "Shit, I forgot."

"Oi, no fucking swearing."

I opened my mouth then closed it, shaking my head. "Daddy, what about uniform?"

My dad sighed, his dark eyes looking part amused, part frustrated. "That's what I wanted to come talk to you about. Since we won't know your house until tomorrow, I was thinking that I could give you some money and go buy a few skirts and school shirts. You would have to buy the tie and hat in Diagon ally, but you can get the rest of your stuff in the muggle shops."

I couldn't help but grin. A rough translation was that I could have a shopping spree in primark and then spend the rest in new look, mostly on high heel shoes that I would probably never wear, but just like to look at.

"Okay Daddy," I smiled.

Left alone, I was unsure what I should pack. My GHD's were a must. Can't be going round school with fluffy hair, especially since it was mixed. My ipod, phone, three pairs of converses, four jeans, two skirts, one dress, two heels, a million pairs of bras and underwear and pajamas were thrown into the gaping suitcase that laid on the top of my bed. I chucked in all my tank tops and jumpers for good measure and scanned the contents of my room. It was already starting to look bare, and despite my excitement, I really wasn't looking forward to leaving my daddy. Daddy's girl through and through, that was me, and no amount of magic was going to change that.

I picked up a couple of things, like the framed photo of me and dad at Christmas about seven years ago. The same dark brown eyes stared up at me, shining with a Christmas glow. I rested it gentle on my unfolded clothes with a small smile. Sometimes, I realise that maybe; just maybe, I don't want to grow up. But stay in the warm, safe and protective arms of my dad. Right now, the big bad world could wait, I was with daddy and nothing, nothing was going to change that.

Blinking back tears, I slipped down to the living room, where my dad sat, watching the TV, eyes unfocused.

At the sound of my approach, he looked up and smiled, almost sadly. "My little girl's growing up,"

I shook my head and took the space beside him, tucking my legs underneath me and resting my head on his shoulder. "Not quite yet, Daddy."

The next morning was kind of a rush, although we didn't have to go anywhere. My friends were meeting me at my house and from there we would be going to the magical family's house, the Weasley's.

It's funny, but you think you have everything packed, until you walk past something and realise that it's meant to be in your suitcase and your like, how could I forget?

That's what I was like the whole morning, trying to keep myself busy so that my sudden feel of homesickness wouldn't catch up on me.

Daddy, on the other hand, was fussing with the fireplace, but please; do not ask me why, when I did, he said something about 'floo'.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Grumpy coiled around my feet and I looked down at him. "What's the matter with you?" I asked, bending down to scratch behind his left ear, a soft spot I found. He purred madly and blinked large glowing green eyes at me. "Nothing to bother yourself with."

I rolled my eyes. "If you say so," but I picked him up in my arms and ran my fingers through his silky black fur. "Your just as nervous as going as I am." And for once, the bloody thing didn't argue.

Around one that afternoon, Alyssa and Kailah turned up on my doorstep with like, seven suitcases between them. I raised my brown and Kailah shook her head. "Only two are mine," She grinned and shook her head. Alyssa shot a glare at the two of us and said with every ounce of dignity that she owned. "We're going away for a whole year,"

"It's called a washing machine." Kailah injected and kissed her teeth, but we said no more.

The twins were next to arrive, both dragging their own luggage, their both Asian eyes were bright, already thinking that having rid of parents for a year was like a permanent vacation, they joined the other two in raiding my kitchen, Grumpy already padding his way over to Crystal and meowing softly at her. "Hey cutie," She grinned.

"Hey Dawn," I looked up to see Yuki frowning at the living room door. "Is there something wrong with your fireplace?"

I sighed. "It's floo."

"Flu?"

"Never mind."

Twenty minutes later and my doorbell rang for the third time today. I opened it to see both Davina and Alice grinning at me. "So," I drawled, leaning against the frame. "What have you told your mum this time? Your going to church?"

Davina sniggered and Alice sighed, shaking her head at me. "Dawn," She said seriously, "I am really going to be in church for the whole year."

There was laugher from the kitchen. "Oh please, you would burst into flames quicker than I would." Called Crystal, who held a content Grumpy in her arms.

When we had all our suitcases piled into the living room, along side our new pets in their little carriers, we all made our way up to my room and blasted some music from the laptop.

"…She's not broken. She's just a baby. But her boyfriend's like her dad. Just like her dad…"

"Oh my God." Squealed Davina. "I love this tune!"

"GaGa for life," Agreed Crystal, her now dyed black hair shimmering as she, Alyssa, Alice and Yuki settled on top of my bed. I sat at my desk chair, Kailah on my lap while Davina perched on the desk.

"I can't believe that we're spending the whole summer together," I sighed, leaning my head back.

Alice made a noise somewhat like 'mmmm?' and corrected me, her tone both serious and floating. "No darling, it's the whole year."

I groaned. "Even worse."

"Hey," Yuki protested as Alyssa send a pillow my way, only it got to Kailah. "Ow," She mumbled. "Stupid rass ass fool, can't you aim?"

Alyssa sighed. "It's your own fault, get out of the way next time."

Alice was killing herself. "This is going to be the best!" she said finally, wiping away a non-existent tear. "The late nights, the dorm parties, the turning up to class hung over..."

Crystal perked up. "I want to do that."

Kailah started to laugh, her body shaking. "Stop that," I grinned, but it was too late, I watched as Kailah's eyes grow wide as she laughed and I couldn't help it, I laughed too.

"Um" Davina frowned, slowly edging away. "What are they laughing at?"

Yuki sighed. "Kailah's laughing because she's picturing Alyssa hung over at school, and Dawn's just laughing because Kailah is."

"Oh."

Slowly, we both recovered from our laughing fit and sighed, big smiles still on our faces. I looked at Yuki. "Please don't try to read my mind again."

Yuki smiled, shaking her head, strands of black hair flying. "You guys are kind of hard, fuzzy. And anyway," She grinned at me, a knowing looking her dark eyes. "Half the stuff that goes through your head gives me nightmares."

I raised a brow. "Come now, don't pretend you haven't been tuning in."

Yuki grinned. "Oh Dawn, you know me too well."

"When are they coming?" Davina asked, looking at the clock on my pink wall. It was five to three.

Alice grinned. "Now."

The doorbell rang.

"Alice," Kailah said, staring at the girl as if she had another head. "That was some scary shit."

Alice grinned, rising from my bed. "I know." She said sweetly, just as my dad bellowed, "Dawn!"

We all raced down to the bottom of the stairs, tripping and falling on top of each other to make it to the bottom first.

I stumbled and grabbed wildly for the wooding banister, to save myself from smacking my head. We tumbled to the bottom, all pausing dramatically in silence to see the scene before us unfold.

My Dad stared at us, the door held open, looking as though he wanted to laugh but was too shocked to try. The threshold was filled with the sigh of Professor McGonagall, her brows raised at us in question. There was long pause of silence, where all nine of us just stood there, in silence.

Then a voice came out of nowhere.

"Come on then, I haven't got all day."

I frowned, not seeing where the voice came from. "Um," Kailah said, also looking confused. "Okay."

The professor and my dad suppressed a smile, as McGonagall produce a battered old hat from somewhere beneath her robes. It was lined with age, looking tattered and worn, its creases took a vague shape of a face, with a nose, a mouth and deep indents for eyes.

Looking over at my dad, McGonagall said. "Is the floo ready?"

Daddy nodded, running his scarred and weather worn hands through his cropped short black hair. "It took a while, but we got there in the end."

Briskly the pair made their way to the living room, where daddy had spent the better part of his day. As they disappeared, the rest of us looked at each other uncertainly before following.

The scene that was before me was something I would be telling my therapist about in the next thirty or so years.

The Scottish professor was crouching down in my fireplace, surrounded by green flames, an irritated look on her face. "These muggles do them very small." She commented.

Daddy nodded. "That's why they're so perfect."

"Girls," The older woman turned to us. "When you are placed into the fire, you are to say in a clear voice; 'the Burrow' Understood?"

There was a mumble of agreement, just as my dad held out a large jug of ash to the Professor.

Taking a pinch, she cleared her throat and said, "The Burrow."

The flames grew, until they consumed her, powerful and hypnotic. A gasp escaped for my lips as I stared at the sight. Then, the fire died into a low hum, and the Professor was gone.

My dad grinned, probably finding the look on out faces priceless or something. "Who's next?"

Alice was shoved forward, glaring back at Alyssa who had become fascinated with her nails. "Oh, alright." She grumbled, dragging her luggage that rivalled Alyssa's.

My dad helped her and her four large suitcases into the fireplace. With a superior look, she turned to my dad. "So, its 'The Burrow'?"

Daddy nodded and she repeated the ritual that Professor McGonagall. Davina, the twins, Kailah and Alyssa soon followed after that. Then it was just me and daddy.

Feeling my heart race, I crouched into the small, confined fireplace, squashed between my trunk and suitcase. "See you in a bit," he smiled, offering me the powder. Taking a fistful, I noticed my hands were shaking. "The Burrow!" I nearly shouted, releasing the ash to the emerald flames.

They consumed me, until they were the only things I could see, flickering tongues of green fire dancing in my vision, blocking my view.

Then they died instantly.

"Dawn?" I blinked, seeing Kailah offer her hand to pull me out of a completely different fireplace. The supermodel St Lucian took my suitcase as I took my trunk. When I settled my belongings with the rests, I paused to take in my surroundings.

A large family of red heads peered at me with anxious eyes.

"Oh don't worry." Alice said casually, sitting at a well lived in table, sipping tea. "Dawn just has a fetish for people with red hair."

I glared. "Exposure, much?"

The mother hen clucked and came round to me with a warm smile. "Its such a pleasure to meet you, I'm Molly Weasley."

The fire's flames went sky-high again and died instantly as my dad effortlessly eased himself out. "Molly," He smiled. "Long time, no see." He looked around him and gave a low whistle. "These all yours?" It was at times like these that my dad's heavy Irish accent came out.

"John Heart," The redheaded woman smiled, shaking her head. "Back from the dead?"

"Ah," My dad smiled. "You know me. Heaven doesn't want me, and hell's afraid that I'll take over."

Laughing, Molly smiled down at me. "I can see Isabelle in her, you around the eyes. Bit of your mother too."

There was a clearing of a throat and all eyes turned to Professor McGonagall, the creepy hat in her hands.

"Oh yes!" Molly went to the table and got a chair, placing it in the centre of the room. McGonagall stood at its side, hat raised along with an eyebrow. "Who would like to go first?"

"I will," Alice sauntered towards the hat and dramatically took a seat. As soon as the hat brushed the top of her head, a booming voice yelled, "Slytherin!"

There was a collective groan from the Weasley children and I looked over at my dad. "What's Slytherin again?"

"The cunning and the proud," My dad rolled his eyes. "Most of the…" My dad struggled to find a word.

"Evil?" a cheery vice suggested, and I looked over to see an identical pair of twins grin over at him. "Mouldy-butt loving?" the other suggested, or was it the same one? My dad chuckled. "Mouldy-butt…I like that. Oh," He caught my look. "Yes, well, most of the…not so agreeable witches and wizards mainly come from that house."

I looked over at Alice, who was standing, hands on hips, giving the ginger twins the evil eye. Sniggering, I muttered loudly. "I wonder why."

Davina went next and another "Slytherin!" was bellowed, which surprised me.

"Godric," one of the twins, who I learnt to be either Fred or George, "The house will be full of them."

Alyssa went next, and a clear "Gryffindor!" was yelled.

"Finally." I heard from somewhere in the heart of the family.

Crystal was next, she sat down at eyed the hat. "Its not going to bite of my head is it?"

The hat was plonked down.

After a few moments, the hat said with certainty. "Ravenclaw!"

I raised a brow at my dad. "The smart ones," He muttered gruffly, watching the proceedings with interest.

Yuki followed after her twin, almost skipping. "Ravnecalw!" the hat yelled, before the hat had time to sit on her head.

"What?" demanded Alice, "Yuki, smart?"

Yuki's eyes narrowed and she kissed her teeth. "Shut up Alice."

It was just Kailah and me now. "You go," I muttered, giving her a little push.

The hat took its time, but finally, it called: "Gryffindor!"

There was a round of cheers and the look of embarrassment on the girl's face was priceless. "Urgh," Alyssa muttered. "I'm stuck with you."

All eyes turned to me.

Rolling my eyes, I made my way to the dreaded chair and took a seat. I felt the hat being place on my head, a soft voice floating in my head…

"Hm, fire in this one. Attitude like the rest, not a bad mind either. Ahh, extremely vain, quiet proud and noble, you have a bit of a mean streak in you. Sly as a fox and ruthless too, not selfless enough for Gryffindor, not quiet a Ravenclaw…"

"Slytherin!"

My mouth gaped open.

"I win!" I turned to blink at the twins, where one was giving the other three large gold coins, Galleons.

"Oh," The one that was giving the money looked at me. "We had a bet to see which house you would be in. I thought you'd be more like your dad, since you live with him and all that."

I looked accusingly at the other. "You bet against me?"

"Yeah Fred," George said. "You bet against her?"

Fred grinned and shrugged, not looking the least bit ruffled at the prospect that I could be more like my Death Muncher Mother or whatever.

"Don't worry about it Dawn," Daddy smiled, giving my shoulder a small squeeze, but I caught the look he shared with McGonagall and Molly. It said clearly that he wanted an eye kept on me.

Asshole.

McGonagall stepped forward and all our eyes turned to her. "In light of your missed four years at Hogwarts, my colleges and I have decided that it is best that you girl begin catch up lessons through out the summer, and extra lessons after school hours if needs be. The headmaster believes that all girls in the same house can share a dorm. And due to events that are taking part on the school grounds this year, all students are required to have formal attire."

I perked up. "Like, prom?" I don't care what house I'm in, as long as I have an excuse got get me an expensive dress and heels, you can tattoo 'evil' onto my arse.

I could practically feel the rest of my girls livening up at the thought of a prom. Being in a Catholic all girls convent, we tended to just have mass.

McGonagall nodded. "In many respects, yes."

My dad sighed, "My pockets feel lighter already."

I chose to ignore that comment, since he had a point.

Continuing as if my dad hadn't interrupted, Professor McGonagall carried on. "You will have on week to adapt to your new surroundings before Hogwarts professor's will begin you lessons."

Waving her wand, some sheets materialise in her hand and she handed them out to us. "There is a list of subjects, some compulsory and some optional. You can choose a maximum of four optional lessons. You will have to choose your subjects within three days."

I looked down at the paper I was given and studied the list.

All required books must be read before or during the summer lessons

Compulsory:

Charms: _Standard books 1-4 _

Herbology:_ Standard Books 1-4_

Defence Against the Dark Arts: _Standard books 1-4, incl. Dark Arts and forces by Patrick Fellowes_

History of magic: _Standard Books 1-4 incl. The Origins of Magic by Elizabeth Darcy _

Potions: _Standard Books 1-4_

Transfiguration: _Standard Books 1-4_

Siren Studies: _No books needed_

Optional:  
Astronomy: _The skies and beyond by Amy Paragon, a students guide to Astronomy by Maxwell Doe_

Care of magical creatures: _The students guide incl. Magnificent beasts and where to find them_

Divination: _Unclogging the future, Art of Tarot _

Ancient Runes: _The forgotten words, by India Powell_

Magical Law: _Higher level wizarding Law and A History of the Ministry's most famous trials._

Home economics with Magic: _Magic and Me, by Patricia Biggs_

Muggle studies: _Muggles and their mysteries by Alexander Howard_

Magical business and trade: _Magic and Money by Trent Skyes _

I looked up with raised brows, we had all the compulsory books already, and I had begun to read some, but for Kailah, Alyssa and Alice, I was sure they hadn't even opened the books yet.

"Since you would normally be taking your O.W.L's this year, external tests, Professor Dumbledore believed you girl should be held back a year and doing your lessons with the fourth years." With that, McGonagall fixed her tartan shawl and nodded to both my dad and Molly before disappearing.

"Well," Molly said after a pause. "We really should be getting down to the introductions,"

My dad nodded. "I better be off," He turned to me and have me a tight hug. "Behave and I'll drop off some money for you in a couple of days to get your uniform, books and whatever else."

Trying to fight back tears I hugged him back. Hey, I was a daddy's girl, what can I say?

Stepping a way, he gave me one last kiss on the forehead before disappearing himself. Blinking, I turned to the rest with a tight smile.

"Hi, I'm Bill." A mature redhead stepped forward, with a growing ponytail and fanged earring. He shook all our hands and we muttered shy hi's and hellos, each giving our name. As Bill sat back down, I noticed that his had a nice ass. Seeing the rest follow him with predatory eyes, I could tell that they thought so too.

"Charlie," A stocky redhead with muscles arms that held different shades of burns was next to introduce himself. His hand felt rough in my small one, but his smile made my heart jump, just a wee bit. Okay, I was a sucker for redheads, give me a break.

"Percy," A lankier guy with an air of self-importance came and shook our hands before departing to his room, with an excuse about Mr. Crouch and a report about toilets.

The twins were next, making an elaborate show of kissing all our hands, making sure we knew which one was Fred and which one was George.

The next Weasley was a boy more about our age, who was taller and thinner than his stockier brothers. He smiled shyly and muttered that he was Ron, the tips of his ears turning pink with embarrassment.

Then there was the only girl, Ginny, who gave us a bright smile. All in all, the Weasley family was cute.

As we were shown to our rooms and left to unpack and settle, I turned towards the rest. "This is really happening," I breathed, still unable to believe it.

Alice was grinning, as she unzipped one of her many suitcases, pulling out a large bottle of Vodka, WKD and fruity red wine. "Here," She said, pushing the wine to me. "You're the only one who drinks this."

Davina and Crystal were already descending on the Vodka, while Kailah and Yuki were sipping and the blue concoction of WKD.

Alyssa shook her head, but smiled, she never approved of us drinking, but she said it was entertaining.

Watch out Hogwarts, the Convent Hoes are coming.


	6. Chapter 6

To Kailah and Alyssa: Yes, my foot

To Crystal: What ever you do, I'll always love you

To Alice: "Who else will be wearing a wing at Thorpe park?"

To Davina: "I've stopped, really I have." Yeah, right babes :)

To Yuki: Will never forget out amazing gossip 3

Okays, it has been a while, and I'm sorry. I know, I know, just get them to Hogwarts already and all that, but be patient; we're almost there. I actually had this amazing idea for the end, so I don't know, just keep reminding me…x

PLEASE NOTE: So that me and the rest of the Siren's do not get found out for our antic ways, I would like for all of you to note that in this story, what we do is exaggerated, for entertainment purposes. ***cough, cough***

Forever your crazy Irish, big boobed friend,

Dawn, x

For half an hour, we sat giggling in the attic, that was Ron's room. He had graciously given up his room for all of us, having to share with his dreaded brother Percy.

There was a knock on the door, and we all froze, going stone cold sober in a matter of seconds.

I cleared my throat. "Um, yeah?"

There was a small pause. "It's me." I couldn't help myself as a small smile played across my face. As the rest scurried to put away half empty bottles of alcohol away, I opened the door. "Hey," I grinned, leaning against the frame with my arms crossed under my chest.

A flirt, me? Never.

Well, okay, maybe just a little bit.

Charlie grinned back down at me, his blue eyes giving off a small twinkle. This close, I noticed that he had a dusting of freckles on the bridge of his nose, which was hard to notice with his honeyed tan. Ooohhh yuuummm.

Please, just please; tell me I'm not the only one who believes in love at first sight.

"Dad's down stairs and dinner's almost ready."

"We'll be down in a minute," Alice muttered, making a shooing motion to Charlie. Once he was gone, six pairs of eyes rounded to me. "You have _got_ to be seeing the look he was giving you," Kailah demanded.

"Never mind him," Crystal muttered. "Did you see the look _she_ was giving _him_?"

I blushed but grinned like a mad fool, loving the fact that I wasn't overreacting with the look Charlie had given me.

"He's like what? Twenty-one? You illegal immigrant." Alyssa was grinning, but her logic wasn't misplaced, she had a point.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Like that would stop Dawn. Anyways," she turned to me, her dark coca eyes assessing. "This one gets bored too easily. She will have the names of her babies with _each_ of the Weasley boys by the end of the summer."

I rolled my eyes. "If you say so."

"I do," Alice muttered back.

My confidence wavered, what with Miss Thing and her supernatural abilities to know things before the rest of us. Well, that explains a lot. Alice was known in are group of friends as the one who knew too much. She could describe the interior of your house before you brought her over, she would be the first to have gossip for us about the goings on in the Covent and she had the unbelievable ability to get herself out of trouble, whatever the situation.

As if reading my thoughts, or maybe she did, what do I know? Yuki smiled and shook her head. "She's only kidding."

Alice made an elaborate cuss in patois, one we all knew to be 'my Lord' or along those lines.

Kailah laughed, commenting something back to Alice, Mary Mother of God, this is what happens when you put two of the same race in a group of friends.

"Okay," I sighed. "Translation?"

Both Kailah and Alice stuck out their tongue.

"Lolo's." I shot back. (Penis in patois. The two have taken great delight in my enthusiasm to learn inappropriate words, and to hear me shout them along the street.)  
I watched as Kailah smiled. "Just no."

"Non?" I pouted and Kailah clicked her fingers and flashed me her 'magic' finger.

"TicTacs!" Alice yelled, producing a three pack that I knew you could get from the 99p store.

We all crowded around her and took three each, all popping them back as pills.

Davina laughed. "Alyssa, you didn't even drink."

"Meow," she replied.

"Someone's been spending too much time with Tiger." I commented as we made out way down the three-floor landing to the kitchen.

"Welcome," a tall, slightly balding man with hair like the rest of his family grinned down at us, with twinkling blue eyes.

I felt my own widen. "I love this family."

Alice grinned and looked over at Molly, who was setting down a large chicken into the centre of the table. "Dawn is somehow going to marry into your family…chicken?" her eyes actually lightened up as she let out a little 'yay' and clapped her hands together, Kailah, Alyssa and Yuki joining in.

As those four raced to the table to get a seat, Crystal, Davina and I hung back, just watching the scene unfold like proud parents.

"Hi I'm Dawn," I smiled sweetly at Mr. Weasley, shaking his hand.

Mr. Weasley nodded, returning my smile. "John's daughter."

The table was crowded as we all took our seats. I was squashed in with Alyssa and Percy, oh Lord.

Percy and his farther were having a conversation about something called the Ministry, but Mr. Weasley kept getting distracted by asking the girls and me about computers and plugs.

I raised a brow. "Don't you have plugs?" I meant it as a joke, but when Mr. Weasley looked dejected and shook his head, the wonderful chicken turned bland in my mouth.

"May I, uh, please be excused for a moment?" I asked, suddenly feeling overcrowded and hot, temperature-wise, I already knew I was the other hot 24/7.

I rose and slipped out of the kitchen to the backyard, where chickens, alive ones, clucked at each other like they were having a conversation.

My eyes burned as I fought not to cry. No plugs meant no hair straighteners, no computers, no Internet, no TV, no way to charge up my phone or ipod. And while I did have my books, I would be able to last without the rest. My hair…oh, my sweet, sweet hair.

I was going to a mixed school with puffy hair, save me the pain and humiliation and kill me now.

As I stepped back into the kitchen, the conversation died and everyone looked up at me. "Dawn?" Davina asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

I bit my lip, fighting it as it struggled to wobble. "No plugs," I said quietly.

The girls followed me in a horror filled silence, the kind that you do for those who have died, feeling the pain and loss.

"No phone," Davina sighed.

"No Facebook," Crystal said, looking down dejectedly.

"No Trueblood," Yuki whispered.

"No Ipod," Alyssa looked like she had lost her arm, and in a way, she had.

"No ebay," Alice muttered, blinking back tears.

"No funny youtube clips," Kailah put her head in he hands.

"No GHD's!" I cried and there was a collective gasp.

"Oh Dawn," Crystal sighed, and she and the rest rose to wrap me in their arms as I struggled not to make a show of myself and cry for my dad to take me home, where there was such a thing as plugs and electricity. I mean, what kind of world is this? Sure magic's great and all, but electricity is magical in its own way. For five years now, it has been electricity that has kept my hair manageable, allowed me to talk to my friends wherever I we were, kept us entertained, our whole life centred around it, until now that is.

After a couple of moments of hearing my friend's coo and comfort me, I pulled away and smiled weakly back at them, grateful I wasn't the only one in all of this.

It was times like this that I realise just how special they all were to me; we were all misfits, regarded as 'weird' by many, until we found one another.

Cheesy, I know. But a world without my friends was unthinkable, and to be honest, I really didn't want to go there.

Feeling bad, I turned to the Weasley's cheeks burning to an unattractive red-ish pink.

"I, um. Sorry." I looked up from the ground, doing my best to look as earnest as I felt. "It was just a shock to the system." The rest murmured their agreement.

Mr. Weasley nodded sympathetically. "Yeas, of course. Many of those who come a Muggle childhood find it hard to adjust."

"Once you get use to it, you'll love it." Promised Charlie, who was looking at me with soft baby blues. Kailah caught the look and grinned, nudging me. "I'm sure that's not the only thing she'll love."

Charlie's cheeks turned as red as my own, and there was hoots of laughter from the twins, Fred and George, along with everyone else.

After that, we all sat down to finish our meal, when we did, both me and Kailah offered to clean up, shooing everyone out of the kitchen.

"You still glad we came?" I asked Kailah, who managed to pull off the rubber-gloves look well.

As I scrubbed the table, there was a paused, before: "Yeah, I am. You?"

I sighed, stopping in mid-scrub. "Yeah, I guess. There just better be a spell that keeps my hair looking half-way decent."

Kailah laughed and I giggled along. "So, you and Charlie, yeah?" She said after a while.

I bit my lip, grinning. "I don't know. I hope so."

Kailah let out a weary sigh. "Okay, what names have you got?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "Five. Ronan and Lorgán for the boys and Riley, Erin and Delilah."

Kailah kissed her teeth, looking over her shoulder at me. "Jesus Christ, I thought I told you that I was having the name Ronan."

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. "Please, its all about who has the boy first. And lets face it darling, from the looks of things," I sent a knowing look towards the door. "It'll be me."

Kailah laughed. "We're really sad, you know that?"

"Yep."

After that, the girls and me ascended to bed, the excitement of the pass week clearly catching up on us.

"Lets do shots!" Alice whispered fiercely as soon as we were out of earshot, and I had to suppress a groan, clearly, some of us could deal with the excitement.

"Shut up Dawn," she said, before I could even open my mouth. "You're a failed Irish person, for not drinking anything over fifteen percent."

I stuck out my tongue, while Kailah laughed.

When we made it to our new room, I all but fell in to the bed that I would be sharing with Alyssa and Kailah. "Urgh, we're not sleeping tonight, are we?" I asked and the rest just grinned at me, shaking their head with glee.

"Hey guys," I asked, after a moment. "What classes are you lot thinking of taking?"

Crystal frowned, "What are they again?"

Yuki just kissed her teeth. "Stupid fool, all you can think about is the alcohol."

"Shut up, like you're any better."

Rolling her eyes. Alyssa got out the list McGonagall had given us and handed to me. Smiling my thanks, I looked down at the parchment, eyeing my options. Before all of this, I wanted to be a lawyer, to make good money and to put my 'persuading' nature to good use. Translation: I argue too much and should make some money out of it.

Back to the point, what was stopping me from being a lawyer now? Just because I was in a new world didn't mean that I had to change every plan I ever made for myself.

"Anyone got a pen?" asked, not taking my eyes of the list.

"Yeah, why?" Davina asked, digging into her handbag.

"I'm choosing my lesson's now," I explained as I took the offered pen.

Crystal grinned. "That sounds like you, Dawn. Always doing before thinking." Her teasing was light, but there was an under layer of truth behind her words. I did jump into things too fast, and normally had to deal with the consequences later.

"Mehh," I muttered, eyeing the list. Law would be the most obvious option, so I put a tick next to that. "How many can we pick again? Four?"

"Four," Yuki confirmed.

"What's divination?" I asked, frowning at the unfamiliar word.

Alice squealed, looking delighted. "It's about seeing the future. Tarot and palm readings and all that."

I grinned, I studied tarot for a while, sounded like my kind of lesson. Tick. Only two left, and with so many choices, how could I choose?

Thinking hard, I looked at the Care of Magical Creatures. With what I could do, I sounded like a lesson I should pick. Rolling my eyes, I made a tick, knowing I was venturing out to the unknown. That left one more.

"Trust me Dawn," Alice said, her dark eyes boring into mine. "You'd like home economics. We all will be taking it."

Smirking, I ticked my final lesson. To be honest, any lesson with the whole lot of us was bound to be enjoyable.

"Lets celebrate!" Davina declared, and a shot glass filled with a honey brown liquid was shoved into my hand.

"One…Two…Three!" I downed it, along with the rest; well save from Alyssa, feeling my body protest as the strong mixture slowly burned its way down my throat. Coughing, my eyes watered as I did my best to look unaffected. Kailah was giggling, while Alice, Crystal and Davina were already pouring out more. Yuki, bless her heart, began to talk in rapid Japanese, her large eyes daring back and forth. Same old, same old.

I declined the second shot, I could take it, but the taste was something like liquid ashes, a taste that made we want to gag. As a compromise, I took out the red wine I had hid, drinking from the bottle. I suppose it would be wrong to say that my love of red wine came from church, huh? But it's true. It was somehow easier to stomach then bounty rum or whatever else Alice has in that big bag of hers.

That night, we didn't sleep to the early hours of the morning, taking about nothing important: old crushes and boyfriends, fantasies, gossiping about people back at the convent. Loads of little things that didn't really matter, but meant a lot to me. It was times like this where I sit back and marvel at how lucky I was. I had a group of friends that were literally, one of a kind. They changed my life, maybe not completely for the better, but if I were even the chance, I wouldn't change a thing.

Sometimes it scared me just how much I relied on my friends, if they hadn't chosen to come Hogwarts, I would have stayed with them. In a strange way, I needed them, like a flower needs sunlight to nurture and grow. Sure, they introduced me to the big bad world, where there are drugs, alcohol, and whatever else that maybe out there, but we somehow struggled along together. Getting through each day with each other.

Whatever this world of magic could throw at us, we could take it, together, somehow.

That night, I didn't sleep that much, but what little sleep I did have, was peaceful, because, even thought my whole world has been turned upside down, I wasn't stumbling through it alone.

"Girls," Mrs. Weasley's head peered round the door at us, her light brown eyes scanning the room. I was more than thankful of Alice and her 'abilities'. Before we went asleep, she had made us clean up and spray the room with Ferbreeze.

We had devised a plan, that later one in the evening, we would ask to go take a walk, sneaking the empty bottles out with us, and dumping them in a near-by field, that Alice had assured us was there. "Breakfast is ready."

As the redheaded woman disappeared, we all took a moment to process what she had said. "I call first dibs in the bathroom!" I yelled, but Alice was already out the door, her wash bag magically in her hands. "Ha ha," she called over her shoulder in a singsong voice as she raced out of the room. "Second," I growled.

"I don't give a shit," Muttered Kailah, "So long as Alyssa goes last." I had to laugh, Alyssa, our cool-level headed Alyssa, took absolutely ages in the bathroom. Literally an hour, and that was on a good day.

All eyes turned to Alyssa, who suddenly looked uncomfortable. "What?" she demanded, but we all said nothing.

Turns out, I did get second, since everyone else was pining Alyssa down, I took advantage of the distraction.

The Weasley's shower looked old, but the hot water worked, after a few minutes, and by that time, I had my hair removal cream on. As the bathroom began to fog, I started to scrape of the cream, leaving smooth pale skin behind. Yay.

After a quick shower, I towelled off and changed, stepping out in a tracksuit, and green hoodie.

"Chav," Davina called with glee as I walked back into our room, sitting down in front of the small mirror to start on my make up. The thing about make-up is, once you put it on, you feel naked unless you always have it on. My face seemed bare without the black eyeliner and mascara. I stuck out my tongue and started to put in my favourite large silver hopped earrings. Putting a bit of serum in my hair, I scrapped it up into a bun, to complete my 'chav-ish' look.

Alice was already down stairs, sipping tea while delicately biting into scrambled eggs on toast, as always, using her fork.

"Morning," I said, taking a seat next to her. I noticed that the kitchen was empty, save from Mrs. Weasley and her daughter, Ginny, who was also finishing up her breakfast. My own plate of scrambled eggs was set in front of me and I smiled gratefully up at Mrs Weasley. "Sleep well, dear?" she asked.

There was this awkward pause, where I shared am look with Alice. So many things passed through that one look held so much. Images of the previous night came flashing back to me, and the smile of Alice's face told me I wasn't the only one reminiscing.

"Wonderful. Thank you."

Davina was next down, wearing a pair of jeggings over a long t-shirt that looked like a dress on her small, petite size. "Hey," she smiled, taking a seat.

There was a thump from upstairs, and for one comical moment, we all looked up, like we could see through the ceiling all the way up to the attic.

"Here you go dear," Mrs Weasley smiled, setting another plate in front of Davina.

"Thank you."

I frowned, biting into the perfect eggs. "Where's everyone?" The absence of the million other Weasley children hadn't escaped my notice.

"Out back, playing Quiddage."

"Ah," I nodded as if what she said had made a load of sense.

Ginny smiled, clearly not fooled. "It's a sport. Its where you fly on brooms, trying to get as much points for you team…"

Alice held up a hand. "Trust me, there is no point in explaining it to us. We'll never get it."

Crystal and Yuki descended, still clad in their pajamas, looking quite harassed. "Did Alyssa get to the bathroom again?" Davina sympathised, just as Kailah appeared, grinning. "That girl can move when she wants to."

The rest settled own to breakfast, and the conversation picked up again.

"So," I began. "When and where are we going shopping for our uniforms? Because I say we go Primark and new look for skirts and stuff. The sale is on, so that way, we have money to get…uh," I bit my lip and smiled sweetly. "Other things."

The rest caught on fast.

"We'd better do it tomorrow or the day after," Alice added. "We have our lessons then."

Kailah nodded her agreement. "I call my mum tonight, see if I can get some more money."

"Same," Crystal nodded, just as Molly looked over her shoulder at us with a puzzled look. "Call?"

"Yeah," Davina grinned, pulling out her ever-present mobile. "You can talk to anyone in the world at anytime, so long as they have one too."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, muttering something that sounded like, "Muggle technology…"

Just then, the kitchen was filled with the Weasley boys, minus Percy and Bill.

"Work," Ginny supplied, reading my thoughts.

"Mum, when's lunch? I'm starving." Ron muttered, caning his neck to see what was on the stove.

"Here," Crystal pushed her plate towards him. "I'm not that hungry," she smiled, just as Yuki kissed her teeth.

"What?" she demanded, her Asian eyes meeting another.

"Skinny moo. You should be eating."

"Oh my God!" Crystal rolled her eyes, and then turned to glare at me. "Don't you dare even think about saying it, Dawn." She warned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," I said innocently enough.

As Ron made his way towards Crystal's plate, the twins got there first. "Cheer's," One of them grinned at her, picking up the plate.

"Better be faster next time, Ronald." The other grinned, biting into a piece of buttered toast.

I laughed at the sight, my eyes falling on Charlie, who was covered in mud, his face rosy from the biting wind. His hair looked adorably wind-swept, sticking out in all angles.

"Good game?" I asked, with a wry smile and a raised brow. I know, I know, I am good, or at least, very, very bad.

"Yeah," he grinned down at me, his blue eyes lighting up. I did my best to ignore the eye-rolls and the knowing looks that was passed through my friends. "Who won?"

One of the twins, Fred, I think, snorted. "We did. Charlie's good, but having Ron on your team…well, your bound to lose."

We all watched as Ron's ears turned scarlet with embarrassment.

Turning back to me with a cheeky kind of smile, Charlie asked; "Do you play?"

I shook my head and grinned ruefully. "I've only just heard of it ten minutes ago."

I watched as Charlie's cheeks turned a slight pink. "I could teach you, if you like."

Grinning madly, I nodded. "But you'd have to be patient, I'm not the best at sports."

Alice chocked back some laughter. "Yeah, the girl who trips over her own feet! She took a drop in gym once. Just fell over nothing."

"Ha ha," I commented dryly.

"I'll catch you, if worst come to worst." I looked up to see Charlie grinning at me, looking close to laughter. "You'd better," I warned, rising out of my seat.

"Bathroom's free," Alyssa smiled, taking my now vacant seat.

Crystal and Yuki looked at each other for a long moment. "Don't you dare." Yuki warned, eyes narrowed at Crystal.

Raising a brow, Crystal smiled, one that made her look like a beautiful, yet psychotic maniac as Yuki rose into the air, yelling swear words at her in Japanese.

The Weasley's watched, both horrified and fascinated with the scene that unfolded in front of them.

Crystal bounded off and up the stairs, a skip in her step, just as Yuki came crashing down to the floor with another yell

The silence was suddenly broken by Ron, who looked over at Alyssa, eyeing her plate with obvious want, "Are you going to eat that?"

Alyssa's eyes narrowed as she pointed to the back door that led out into the garden. "Get out fool."

"You ready?"

I looked over at Charlie, eyeing the slightly battered broom in his hands with suspicion. "Oh yeah," I raised a brow, knowing he got the sarcasm.

"Don't worry," Charlie reassured me, "I'll be with you."

I turned my speculation to Charlie, eyeing the broad, stocky frame. His arms were well muscled, and was sure strong enough to pull me up if I so happened to fall of the broom. When I didn't answer immediately, he sighed. "I promise." His big blue eyes were filled with earnest, completely sure that he would save me if the situation arose.

With a sigh, I tried to look more convinced. "Okay, I trust you."

I tried not to smile at the grin Charlie gave me as I settled on the broom, him behind me. "Relax," His breath tickled my ear as his arms wrapped around me so he could get a grip on the wood.

Then he kicked off the ground.

For a moment, all I could do was open my mouth in fear, eyes wide, as the Weasley house soon became a small dot. I could see the small, neighbouring fields, littered with small sheep and cows.

Then I remembered to breath, as a rush of adrenaline came over me, heart thundering so hard in my ears, I almost didn't hear Charlie. "You okay?" he asked, nervous to why I had gone suddenly quiet.

I turned to look over my shoulder grinning. "How fast does this thing go?"

The grin I got made my pulse race faster than before. "Hold on," He warned, eyes shining with the same excitement that I felt.

I blast of cool English wind hit us as we soared at light-speed, watching as the world around me became blurs of green and blue. The biting cold from the wind made me shiver, glad of the heat that came of Charlie. I leaned back a bit, my head resting on his shoulder and felt his arms tighten around me. Smiling, I looked over to see him looking at me, his usual grin becoming something that looked softer, sweeter.

For what seemed like a lifetime, we flew around the endless green fields, just like that, basking in a comfortable silence that didn't need to be filled.

Then we slowly began to descend, and I couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment, but I tried to look grateful as we touched ground once more.

"You should go inside, you're shivering." I looked down, surprised to see that Charlie was right. Stiffly, I dismounted the broom and met the knowing looks of my six friends, along with the Weasley children. "Have fun?" Kailah asked, her eyes light and shining with amusement.

I nodded, biting my lip to hold back a smile.

"My turn!" Alice turned to once of the twins, George, maybe. "One of you should take me up. If Dawn catches any of us with her man, there's going to be trouble."

Alyssa grinned, nodding. "And the Irish accent comes out."

"Along with her knowledge of swear words," Added Crystal.

I grinned, just as 'my man' lean me back into the kitchen, trying to hide a smile at the wolf-whistles we got.

"Here, sit by the fire." Charlie guided me towards a worn-out sofa near the fireplace, where a warm orange heat emitted of the flames. As I snuggled down, Charlie went off to the hallway, coming back moments later with a tick, woolly blanket that he draped over me. Sitting next to me, Charlie studied me quietly for a long moment, as I tried not to squirm under his gaze. Finally, he said. "So, what special power do you have?"

I sighed, keeping my gaze on the flickering flames of the lit fire. So much for gazing romantically into my eyes.

"Dawn?" He asked when I didn't reply.

Hugging my knees to my chest, I turned back to Charlie. "I can talk to animals." Shrugging like it was no big deal. "Not as cool as the rest, but yeah."

"I think your cool." Charlie smiled, his red hair turning fiery from the glow of the flames. "Yeah?" I grinned, raising a brow. "And what do you do?"

"Actually, I work with dragons."

"Wait," I said, frowning up at him. "Did you say _dragons_?"

Charlie laughed, a nice, warm sound that made me smile in return. "Yeah, dragons."

"That would explain the burns then," I nodded towards the healing burns that scattered around his hands and arms. Hesitantly, I reached out to brush a fading mark, a pale pink against his tanned, weatherworn skin. "Did it hurt?"

"A bit," Charlie admitted, watching as I brushed the tips of my fingers along the mark. I noticed he leaned a bit closer, and I suddenly became aware of nine faces fighting each other to press themselves up against the window.

Letting my hand drop, I shared a slight annoyed smile. "No privacy in the Weasley household," Charlie sighed.

I rolled my eyes, glaring over at the faces of my friends, who only smiled back. "No privacy with those lot either."


	7. Chapter 7

To Crystal: Fine, the Pretty Reckless are good

To Alice: Fifteen finally

To Yuki: So sorry for spilling my drink at your house :S

To Kailah: "All hail daggering queen of the night!"

To Alyssa: My sister is not cute

To Davina: You are to never leave me to go Portugal ever again. Your wife has spoken.

Q: What would my life be like without you guys?

A: Very dull and very sane.

"Dawn!" I felt something sharp poke my ribs non-too gently and I groaned, rolling away to keep the last snippets of sleep I had left.

"Get up you lazy _sallop_. I want to go shopping, and since we're living in the middle of nowhere, we need to leave _now_ if we want to make it to London before midnight."

Alice and her stupid patois, cursing me, as usual.

"It's only ten." I groaned, peaking one eye open at her, but wearily shut it again at the harshness of the light filling the room.

"Oh no." She shook her head. "Get up. Now. We've got half an hour till we leave, and if you're not ready, you'll be left behind."

I heard the door slam and winced, last night we had another all-nighter, and I was really feeling the rough effects.

Dad had come by later the previous night to drop off some money, along with everyone else's, so we all had agreed that we would go shopping for our uniform, while Molly picked up our other stuff in Diagon Alley.

The promise of shopping did, however, call me from my bed, having a quick shower and tugging on my clothes as I made my way to meet the rest in the kitchen.

"Morning," I mumbled, already snatching a piece of toast of Kailah.

"You look rough," Crystal commented, looking up from doing Davina's eye-make-up. "Yeah," Davina agreed, fighting not to blink. "Have you even brushed you hair?"

"Do it on the train." I mumbled, smiling a thanks at Molly for the coffee she had set in from of me.

"That's what you get you stupid fool." Alyssa said, shaking her head at me, as if it was my entire fault.

"Mmm,"

"Quiet the charmer, aren't you Dawn?" Kailah grinned at me.

When Molly wasn't looking, I stuck my middle finger up.

Charm that.

After the quite world of the Weasley's isolated home, London suddenly seemed too busy, too loud. But still, I couldn't help but feel the rush of coming home, warmth surrounded me like a familiar blanket, despite the slight breeze in the air.

Summer or no, this was England.

We changed to the underground to get the central line to Oxford Circus, where London's famous Oxford Street was waiting for us.

Armed with about two thousand pounds between us, we were ready.

Since the ever fickle fashion was drawing into it's autumn season, all it's summer rage was on sale, with beckoning promises of seventy percent off, three-for-two and the buy one get one half price, so, to say the least, it was packed.

We all broke off, searching for our own thing, Kailah, Davina and myself going to primark to get the cheapest things we could find. Alyssa and Alice took to new look and Yuki and Crystal went to topshop.

As per usual, Kailah and Davina were giggling over the bra section, holding up cute, small little things that wouldn't stand a chance against my fist, let alone my lady lumps.

I already had my uniform in mind, since Ginny had assured us that Hogwarts were quiet lenient with it's school wear, so long as you stuck to your house colours, school colours, and had a little dignity.

I already had five white blouses, one for every day of the week, two short black tube skirts, a green tartan mini (the last one, God is smiling down upon me), fishnets, patterned and plain black tights and knee high black socks.

Molly was getting us the cloaks, hats and ties; so really, we had a lot already covered.

Also, we were shopping for our formal dresses.

Once we paid, we met up for coffee and Alice was grinning at me. "Here's your late birthday present!" she squealed, shoving a bag into my hands.

"About time," I muttered, looking stern, but my frown melted the moment I looked into the bag.

"You said you wanted a leather jacket." Alice shrugged, nonchalant about my frozen expression of utter joy.

"Alice!" I screamed, throwing my arms around her before ripping the bag open to try the black leather jacket on.

It fitted perfectly, cut so that it emphasised my curves, along with silver zips. Then, I looked at the price tag.

"Sixty-nine quid?" I demanded at Alice, but she just waved her credit card at me, like that was all the answer I needed, in a way, it was.

After numerous hugs I gave Alice, I settled down to sip my steaming coffee, just as the holy topic of prom dresses came up.

"I seriously have to find a short black one," Crystal sighed, mentally preparing herself for the hunt ahead.

"With zips and shit," Yuki added.

"What's this? I'm off to the nearest bridal shop." We all looked at each other, than back at Alice.

"Yeah, you do that and we'll follow." Alyssa commented, looking as thought she was about to do the exact opposite.

"I say we split into groups. Yuki and Crystal, because you guys like the same stuff. I'll go with Alice, to make sure she doesn't turn up looking like bridezilla. Dawn, Kailah and Alyssa…?" Davina trailed off, brow raised.

"We'll be fine." I promised, thanking God that I had those two to help me.

"Yeah, sure darling." Kailah muttered, clearly not fooled.

We started talking about the pro's and con's about wearing a tiara when a thought began to draw on me. "Wait, we're shopping with Alyssa?"

"Haven't we already established this?" The girl in question demanded, giving me a look that clearly said that I was having a 'blonde' moment.

I stuck out my tongue. "Yeah, but, I sat next to you through out ICT. You know, when I spent all my lessons planning my wedding."

"Your sadness continues to surprise me," Alice muttered.

Sparing her a glare, I continued with my point. "Remember when I tried to find you a dress? It was always 'I like the top, but the bottom is urgh' or 'Look at, this stupid, monstrous creation. Even if I had a blind nun, who had hearing and learning problems, pick out my dress, it would look better than that.'"

Kailah grinned. "Did she really say that?"

"Oh wow, look at the time," Alice said suddenly. "Me and Davina better be going." The curvy St. Lucian grabbed our Portuguese Princess and hauled her out of her seat.

"You know," Crystal added, catching on. "Me and Yuki have a long search ahead of us, we should be going too."

"Judas's." I called back to the vastly retreating figures. Draining my coffee, I sighed. "C'mon, we'd better be going as well."

"!"

I paused from looking through the many dresses on the rack to look over at Alyssa, who just shook her head.

"Kailah." We both said at the same time, in the same amused, yet expected voice.

Just on queue Kailah appeared, her hands fluttering in a motion that was fanning herself. "Oh – My – God. Oh my God. OH MY GOD. OHMYGOD!"

I raised a brow. "Is Lil Wayne in the shop?" My tone sceptical

"Oh," Alyssa muttered. "I thought someone died." She sounded bored, but Kailah didn't seem to notice.

"I found it. My dress. It's _purple_. It's beautiful. I _have_ to have it."

"Try it on then." I urged Kailah, who looked like she was literally about to die of happiness. The hyped St. Lucian nodded, racing off to the dressing rooms.

"See anything you like?" I asked Alyssa after a moment.

Making a frustrated sound, Alyssa shook her head. "No, they're all so…"

"Not you?" I supplied helpfully, peering over my shoulder at her.

"Yeah," she sounded relieved that I understood.

"Same. I'm actually thinking of making my own."

Alyssa started to crease.

"Hey!" I protested. "It's perfectly possible."

But that only made the Sierra Leone crack up even more.

"Hey guys!" Kailah reappeared at the worst possible moment, her deep brown eyes going wide as she saw a normally quite dignified Alyssa now on the floor, struggling to breathe as she imagined a dress I would have created on my own.

Through gasps, Alyssa managed to choke out the reason why she was clucking her sides, tears streaming down her face.

After a pause, Kailah assume the same state as Alyssa.

Friends, wonderful, aren't they?

When they finally recovered, and believe me, it took a while, we all regarded the purple dress that moulded itself on the slinky curves of Kailah.

"It's actually really nice," Alyssa commented.

"You say that with so much surprise." I mumbled as Kailah clapped her hands together, obviously happy with her find.

The dress in question was a rich purple silk, strapless and stopped mid-thigh. On the left hip, there was a starburst of twinkling diamonds twining out in little vines.

"You look beautiful," I reassured her, unable not to feel happy for her – she was going to break hearts, but then again, she and the rest of my girls always did.

Kailah paid and we left, trying a few shops here and there, but both Alyssa and me couldn't find anything that we liked.

We were on our way to regroup when I paused. "You guys go ahead," I told them. "I'll catch up with you in a while."

"You sure?" Kailah asked, looking uncertain about leaving me – I had a habit of getting lost.

"Yeah," I nodded, shooing them away.

When they were gone, I retraced my steps back to where I had seen one of those shops that were filled with all types of material.

"Erm, Hi." I smiled at the lady at the counter, "I want to make a dress."

"Right," the lady had the same look on her face that Alyssa and Kailah had once they realised I was serious. Did I have a massive tattoo on my forehead saying: _Please, do not take me seriously?_

Humouring me, the woman asked me a few questions: What style did I want, what cut, any certain designer did I admire?

"I want it to be um, short, silky green, and pretty."

I left the shop with a large roll of beautiful green silk, matching green and silver thread, needles, pins, a mannequin thingy that was my size and about a million books on dress templates and styles.

Altogether, in spent eight-four quid, not bad, if you think about it.

As I neared the rest, I saw many of their mouths drop. "Dawn, you were suppose to buy a dress, not a dancing partner." Alice nodded towards my mannequin.

"Shut up you." I retorted.

"So, you're really going to make this dress?" Davina eyed the bulging bag that I struggled to carry in my, uh, small arms.

"Yes," I sighed, feeling like I may as well record my answer, for all the times I'm going to have to be repeating myself.

They all sniggered, but didn't voice their obvious opinions, to which, I was grateful for, kind of anyway.

Alice, Kailah, Yuki and Crystal had found their dresses, alongside shoes and accessories, which left poor Alyssa and Davina to still search at a later date. Please note that I did not include myself, for I do not fall under either of the above categories. I have a dress, only I have to make it. No pressure.

After a light lunch (light being the operative word) the girls and me went to get our hair and nails done. For a while, we did encounter a snobby receptionist who insisted that we had an appointment. Luckily, Alyssa intervened and 'convinced' her that we could be squeezed in for a manicure, pedicure, eyebrow threading (waxing in my case – less painful) and a wash, cut and blow dry.

There is nothing better than being pampered with your friends, giggling over stupid stuff like my obsession with my Irish maths teacher or Alyssa's penchant for well-built guys and baby oil. It took me a while, but I finally choose between leopard print nails and hook-red. I went for the red. Feeling fabulous, the girls and I bored the over ground train that would take us back to the Burrow. By the time the train was pulling into the station, it was already dark; whatever heat of the day was now a cool breeze. I yawned, resting my head of Alyssa's shoulder, which, in turn, she put her head on mine. Somehow, Kailah had managed to worm her way into a small little huddle.

"We're penguins," She commented as she rested on the cushioned softness of Alyssa's chest.

"Can I be the baby egg?" I asked.

"You're defiantly small enough." Kailah agreed.

"And white enough." Alyssa added.

"Mmmmm." I commented, looking around with tired eyes. Alice's head was lying on Davina's lap, her dark curls soothingly being pushed away from her face. Yuki and Crystal had their hoods up, heads together as they shared headphones. From where I sat, I could hear the mutter of Yuki, her full lips pursing as she kissed her teeth. "I am not listening to that again."

There was a moan of frustration. "Why the fuck not?" Crystal demanded, her voice unnaturally loud against the silence in the carriage.

"Shhhhhh," Alice commented, not opening her eyes.

When it was out turn to get off, we were all reluctant to walk the next long miles to the small, rickety house that belonged to the Weasley's.

"Sure could use Dawn's peng-ting hubby and his broomstick 'round about now."

Yuki giggled. "It's like riding a broomstick!" she quoted from a book I lent her. Which was very, very dirty.

"Straddle up cow boy. We're goin' for a ride. YEEEH-HAAAAH!" I put on a southern drawl and tipped up my imaginary cowboy hat.

"Dawn, that's dirty." Kailah commented as we trekked through a field in the dark.

"_Con, lolo mueh."_ I retorted in her native tongue. She turned to Alice. "See what happens when you teach her dirty words?"

Alice blinked, looking dazed for a moment before frowning. "Wh_at?"_ She pronounced the word with two syllables, dragging it out in her defensive confusion.

"You heard." Kailah replied ominously.

Please. Do not ask me how we managed to find our way back to the Borrow – I guess its one of those things you'll just never understand. Like the purpose of life or A-level math.

When we arrived in the cosy – albeit slightly cluttered – Burrow. I couldn't help by feel my body relaxing, you know, that feeling you get when you come home, like there's no need to worry – because for the moment, nothing bad can happen. I know, I know, its stupid, naïve and foolish to think that a mere building can protect you from the harsh realities of the world.

Like myself, the rest of the gang was tired, content with eating the large dinner that Mrs. Weasley had made for us and going to bed. Before we did so, the mothering redhead called us back.

"Girls." She smiled kindly at us, her worn face looked as tired as I felt. "Have you got your lessons list?


End file.
